You Work for Me
by Shining Serenity
Summary: Working sucks! No, it really sucks! But working for an arrogant, cold hearted, manipulative, good for nothing, meanie sucks even more! Too bad Hinata’s stuck picking up Sasuke’s dirty underwear! Read and Review please! [SasukeXHinata]
1. Chapter I

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_**You Work for Me**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto... just using the characters and putting them in awkward situations for my own sick amusement.

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"He _what_?" Neji murmured as he continued to listen to his cousin telling him everything that happened to her in the last two hours. 

Hinata nodded softy. "He -_sobs-_ finally -_hic_- kicked me -_snivel_- out…said…I…weak…-_sob_-… useless."

"After all these years and he's finally done it," Neji whispered quietly to himself. He knew that Hinata and her father had problems, but he never thought that Haishi would resort to kicking his own daughter out of the house in the middle of the night.

Hinata's eyes were dropping buckets of tears by the second as she continued to explain her problem to Neji. "I have no place to go, no money and no job! What am I going to do?"

Neji gave Hinata an annoyed look. He knew, that she knew, that he was going to let her stay with him whether she wanted to or not. Why did girls have to be so damn over-dramatic? "I thought you were working at the hospital."

"I volunteer at the hospital," Hinata spoke softly as she blew her nose for the hundredth time that night. She was practicing to become a doctor and she was currently attending school to finish her degree in medicine.

"You can always stay with me," Neji said as he saw Hinata's eyes glimmer with happiness, "but we'll still need to find you a job."

Hinata instantly fell back into her depressive mood. "I've never worked before," she pouted, hoping that her cousin would let her off the hook with this job thing.

"Don't worry, you're a fast learner," Neji countered. If Hiashi kicked her out of the house, it was for her own good. She needed to learn how to become more independent and to not always lean on family for support.

"So, where can we find a job?" Hinata asked innocently.

Neji knew that she had never really had a real job like many other teenagers before because she came from one of the richest families in Konoha. This whole working for money thing was weird for Hinata, but he would help her through it.

"We'll have to figure that out tomorrow morning," Neji said calmly.

"I hope I can find a job that I'll like," Hinata said quietly as she dropped her head low and fumbled with the napkin on her lap.

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Hinata plopped onto the stool at Ichiraku's Ramen stand with an unladylike thump. She took off her shoes and rubbed her sore feet. She was so tired because she had just spent the whole day walking from stores to malls to small carts on the sidewalk, hoping that someone would hire her, but she had absolutely no luck. 

Every single job in Konoha was taken.

Neji was going to be really disappointed in her when he found out that she was coming home without a job, or even any solid leads to one. Who knew that searching for employment would be so hard?

Maybe she could bribe Neji. She could tell him that she would prepare all his meals, wash all his clothes and keep his apartment so clean that he could eat off any surface and in return he wouldn't force her to go to work. The world was a scary place.

But Neji was always so clean already. She would have to bribe him with something more appealing. She tilted her head and put a finger to her chin and attempted to think harder.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto bellowed from behind in his oh-so-annoying, yet charming voice.

Hinata nearly fell out of her seat as she heard Naruto's thundering voice.

"H-hi, Naruto," Hinata responded quietly. Even though she had gotten over her obsessive crush on Naruto a long time ago, she was still nervous around him.

Naruto ginned and placed a hand behind his head. "Why do you look so sad, Hinata?"

"Me? Oh… umm, don't worry about it."

"Come on Hinata! I want to help you, tell me what's wrong."

Hinata tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, r-really, I'm okay."

Naruto continued to look at her with determination and didn't move an inch. Under any other circumstances, she would have applauded his determination, but right now it was making her extremely anxious and she could feel her palms sweating. Telling him wouldn't hurt, right?

"I can't find a job," Hinata finally said in a dejected tone of voice. "I spent the whole day looking for one, but no one wants to hire me."

Naruto looked at Hinata and tilted his head and rubbed his chin as if was in deep thought.

"I GOT IT!" The blond boy screamed loudly.

Hinata looked around to see if anyone was looking at them; no one was. No one seemed to care about his loud outburst; they were probably used to it by now.

"That Sasuke-bastard has been looking for a maid," Naruto said in a surprisingly quiet voice, darting his eyes back and forth to make sure no one was listening to them.

"A maid?" That didn't sound too good.

"Yep, a maid. He put me in charge to find some girl who isn't in love with him to help him keep his house clean," Naruto replied. "You're not in love with him, right Hinata?"

Hinata blushed. "What? Of course not."

Naruto scratched his head. "You never did pay any attention to him when we were in school together as kids, did you?"

Hinata was glad to see that Naruto was still as dense as ever. He still hadn't figured out that he was the one that she harbored a crush for. Oh well, some things were never meant to be.

"No, I didn't," she answered honestly.

"You're perfect for the job then. But you have to keep it quiet cause if girls like Sakura and Ino find out, they'll beat me to a pulp," Naruto whispered as he looked around with nervous apprehension.

"I still don't know," Hinata slowly placed her fingers on her lips, "Sasuke and I have n-never really talked and no offence, but he sort of s-scares me."

"Don't worry. I'll be there on the first day and if Sasuke says anything bad to you, I'll kick his ass!" Naruto jumped out of his chair and started punching and kicking thin air.

She would defiantly feel more comfortable and safer with Naruto around.

"Okay, thanks Naruto. You really did help me," Hinata said happily as she stood up. She was so happy that she found a job, she couldn't wait to tell Neji.

"No problem. That's what friends are for. Sasuke will be back tomorrow from his mission, so we can meet in the afternoon right here, okay?" Naruto said excitedly.

Hinata nodded her head as her lips curled into a smile and waved, "thank you again Naruto! See you tomorrow."

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	2. Chapter II

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**_Chapter II_**

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"Your not working for him," Neji said angrily as he crossed his arms and scowled. 

Both cousins were sitting in Neji's kitchen having dinner when Hinata broke the news that she would be working for Sasuke as his maid. Neji was more then angry when he heard of her new job and would never allow his cousin to stoop so low as to working as someone's maid, especially Sasuke's.

"Why not? You told me to get a job and I did," Hinata spoke softly, not sure as to why Neji was getting so upset for. She thought that he would've been happy to hear that she found a job on her first day of job searching.

"I don't want you working for that… that…" Neji didn't want to swear in front of his younger cousin and he tried to calm himself.

"You won't like working for him," he said plainly.

Hinata scrunched her brows. "How do you know?"

"I just do."

Hinata wasn't going to back down. She just wanted to try working for one day and if she didn't like it then she could always quit.

"I need this job," Hinata spoke in an uneasy tone. She wasn't sure how she could explain this to her cousin. "I need the money if I want to continue school and I know that Father won't be paying tuition fees anymore."

In all her life, Hinata had never faced any financial problems before and now, all of a sudden, she was being pushed into taking responsibility to make sure that she would survive. Its not something that Hinata asked for, but if she was kicked out with no money, then she would have to take initiative and earn her way to the top. She didn't want to have to rely on her cousin all the time.

Hinata sat quietly in her chair, playing with the food in her plate and avoiding any eye contact with Neji. Her cousin could be so intimidating at times.

"And Naruto said-"

Neji sighed. "So this is about Naruto?"

Hinata shook her head side to side, with her eyes still focused on her plate.

"Hinata, I thought you were over Naruto?" Neji said in an annoyed voice. He still couldn't understand what she saw in that loud-mouthed fool.

"I am over him but Naruto's the one who got me the job and he said that he would be there on the first day to help me out," Hinata intertwined her hands in an attempt to calm her nerves before she probed onwards. "You really shouldn't worry so much about me, Neji. I can handle this, please just trust me."

Neji looked at Hinata. He really did need to have more faith in her, so that she wouldn't become so dependent on everyone and could live on her own merit.

"Okay. If this is something that you want to do then I won't stop you. But if he does anything to hurt you, I want you to tell me," Neji said in a very father-like tone. Hinata simply nodded and smiled.

She would show Neji that she could work under any conditions and that he didn't need to worry about her all the time.

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Hinata hesitantly walked down an empty road as she made her way towards her dreaded destination. She was so nervous that even her nails were practically sweating. She was making her way to Sasuke's house… all by herself. 

She had arrived at Iruchiu's Raman stand at the time that Naruto had suggested and found no trace of the orange suit wearing ninja. She had asked the owner if he had seen him and he handed her a note which Naruto had left earlier saying that he couldn't make it today because he was assigned to a mission and that she should go over to Sasuke's house by herself. There was also a map and set of directions.

Hinata debated with herself whether she should head over to Sasuke's house or just wait for Naruto's return so he could go with her. However, she figured that it would look, well pathetic, if she waited for an escort to take her to Sasuke's house. Its not like he was some monster, right?

She had stopped to turn back so many times in-between, but reasoned that it couldn't be as bad as she was making it out to be. She had to prove to her cousin that she could handle this job and what kind of person would she be if she backed out now?

Hinata reached the front step of an empty looking house and knocked on the door cautiously.

She heard a mumbled voice saying something along the lines of 'come in'. Hinata wasn't sure if she heard right, so she clutched the door knob and slightly opened the door and poked her head through the door. She was surprised to see Sasuke standing a few feet from her.

"Well are you going to come in or do you need a welcoming party?" Sasuke said rudely as he stared down at the frightened girl.

Hinata was startled by his rude attitude and stood there dumbstruck for a few seconds before she registered her body to function again. She shook her head and opened the door and stepped into the house. She closed the door behind her softly and took her shoes off, just to be polite.

"I-I'm Hinata-"

"I know who you are. That idiot Naruto told me you were coming," Sasuke interjected as he started walking towards another room. Hinata obediently followed behind him.

"I need you do the laundry first," he said in an unfriendly manner, "you do know how to work a washing machine, right?"

"Y-yes," Hinata replied nervously. He was much more intimidating than Neji and it was hard for her to control her stuttering around him.

"Good. Now get to work. I'll be back later," Sasuke said as Hinata watched his retreating form. She was so happy that he would be gone for at least a while, so that she could get her work done without worrying about him. Hinata heard him slam the front door shut and she let out the breath that she was holding. Maybe Neji was right, she wouldn't like working with him as her boss.

But right now, he was gone and she could focus on the task at hand. She could do laundry; she had done hers many times before and it was really very easy. All she had to was sort the whites from the darks and put them in the washing machine and add soap. She would show Sasuke what a competent and excellent worker she was.

Hinata turned around and looked at huge towering heap of clothes that were stacked up in a messy pile. Maybe this would take much longer then she had expected.

_**An hour and 30 minutes later…**_

"There," Hinata said with a confident smile. She had managed to wash all the dark clothes and put them in dryer and fold them afterwards. She was really pleased with her achievements and she was almost done half her job.

She was now focusing on putting the white clothes from the washing machine into the dryer when she noticed that all of the clothes had some type of pinkish hue on them. Hinata grew more panicked as she took out more clothes from the washing machine and noticed that all the clothes, mostly Sasuke's white cargo shorts, were, well, **_pink_**.

Hinata didn't know what to do as she paced around in the small laundry room. If Sasuke found out that she made the entire half of his wardrobe pink, well, she wouldn't be alive long enough to see another day.

She didn't know how all the clothes could have turned pink. Hinata fished around in the washing machine and found a bright red sock. How did that get there? Hinata didn't have enough time to ponder on that question as she started biting her nails and trying to come up with a way to solve the current problem.

Maybe if she put them in the dryer, they would dry up and the slight pink hue would disappear on the clothes or be slightly less noticeable. A little colour in Sasuke's life wouldn't be so bad, right? Hinata quickly grabbed all the clothes out of the machine and put them in the dryer and waited impatiently for the clothes to dry.

While she waited, Hinata wondered what kind of flowers she would have at her funeral… maybe some nice lilies… or daffodils… or traditional roses…defiantly not pink ones.

She should have listened to Neji. She wasn't ready to work for Sasuke, he was the rudest man she had ever met and now she had made all his shorts go pink. She was done for.

Hinata heard the dryer halt and she quickly opened the door and gasped. Drying the clothes had made it worse. They were so pink that even Sakura's hair looked dull in comparison. Hinata didn't know what to do but decided to quickly fold the clothes and bolt out of the house before Sasuke would come home and confront her about them.

She was nearly done folding all the clothes when she heard Sasuke open the door and enter. Hinata quickly put all the clothes into a neat pile in the laundry basket. Of course, pink shorts on the bottom and dark shirts on top and stepped out of the laundry room and closed the door behind her.

She looked around for Sasuke and found him in the kitchen, which looked like it was hit by a tornado and then some.

"umm, Sasuke? I finished the laundry," Hinata said nervously as she tried to control her urge to cry. She was so afraid of what he would do to her once he found out about his clothes.

Sasuke looked over at her. "Good. You can go now."

Hinata was feeling very guilty about his clothes being ruined and decided that honesty was the best way to go and that she should tell him about what happened to all of his shorts.

"Oh, ah there was a slight-"

"Will you just shut up and leave. Your annoying me," Sasuke spoke in a very rude, but calm manner. Here she was doing him a favor by telling him what happened to all of his clothes so that he wouldn't embarrass himself tomorrow by wearing pink shorts and he was being absolutely boorish with her.

Hinata simply kept her mouth shut and nodded. She ran out of the house as fast as she could. She wouldn't ever go back to that house again.

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Hinata hadn't been able to sleep very well last night because she kept dreaming of how Sasuke's reaction would be once he found his modified clothes. She also kept waking up in the middle of the night because she half suspected him to be sitting on her window sill waiting for her. Luckily, that never happened. 

She had woken up in a bad mood and it was one of those days where she didn't want to do anything. Hinata wasn't up to the task of cooking anything either and decided that she would get take out from Iruchiu's Ramen stand for lunch.

Hinata had just entered the small store when she heard loud laughter coming from the corner of the store. She immediately recognized it as Naruto's voice but she couldn't see him since there were many people standing around him. She wanted to see what the commotion was about but was blocked by people who were much taller then her.

"Ahahahahahaaaaa" Naruto laughed without taking any breaths, "Sasuke, that colour sure suits you, it brings out your-- I don't know what it brings out, but ahahahahahaa."

"How come you never told me you like pink Sasuke?" Sakura said with bright eyes, "my hair is pink too. That means that we're meant to be with each other."

Sasuke scowled. He needed to find that girl right now. He would find her and make her suffer.

"Naruto, tell me where she is," Sasuke said angrily as he was quickly losing his patience.

"Find who Sasuke? Is it another girl? Are you cheating on me Sasuke?" Sakura asked as her eyes started forming huge tears and were on the edge of falling down.

Hinata had now made it through the crowd but her face went pale as she saw Sasuke standing there, grabbing a hysterical Naruto by the collar and fending off a needy Sakura. Sasuke looked straight at Hinata but only caught a glimpse of her as Hinata panicked and quickly ran out of the store.

She ran as fast as she could without looking back. Hinata ran a couple of more blocks before she rounded a corner and stopped so that she could catch her breath. She peered over her shoulder and looked behind her to make sure that he wasn't in sight and sighed happily when she saw no trace of him.

That was too close.

Hinata turned around leisurely, only to be confronted by the devil himself, who was standing merely two feet away from her.

She was wrong, this was too close.

She looked at him and noticed that his dark, smoldering eyes were burning with anger and rage… anger and rage that was directed towards her. She lowered her eyes and noticed that he was wearing pink shorts. Oh god, she was done for.

Hinata gulped and put her hands up in defense. "I-I can explain."

"I'm going to make you pay."

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**_Please Review_**

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	3. Chapter III

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**_Chapter III_**

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Hinata gulped and put her hands up in defense. "I-I can explain." 

"I'm going to make you pay," he said in a low growl.

Sasuke slowly started advancing closer and closer to the short, terrified girl with his hands balling into fists and his eyes blazing with fire. With every one step Sasuke took forward, Hinata took two backwards. She could feel the hatred that was radiating off Sasuke and was fearful of what he would do to her. She shouldn't have stopped to rest in a dark alley, that was just asking for an attack. The entire place was deserted; even if Ino and Sakura screamed in unison, no one would hear them.

Hinata took another step backwards as Sasuke moved in closer and she bumped into a brick wall behind her. There was no escape. She knew that there was no way that she could physically beat him; she could try to talk her way out of this, but she wasn't really much of conversationalist.

"Th-there was a-a red sock and I don't know how it got into the machine. I didn't do it on p-purpose," said Hinata as she struggled to explain the situation to the fuming boy, but it didn't seem like he was going to back-off any time soon.

"I don't own red socks," replied Sasuke in a smooth voice. He took another step forward. He heard Hinata gasp at their close proximity and he had to admit that he was currently amused by the girl.

"I don't know h-how it got there," Hinata spoke in a small voice. "It was a mistake."

"I don't accept mistakes."

Hinata lowered her head and could see the pink shorts on Sasuke. With everything aside, she had to admit that pink looked good on the naturally pale boy, not that she would ever tell him.

"I'm s-sorry."

"I don't want an apology."

Sasuke raised his arms and placed both hands on the wall, trapping Hinata in-between his arms, body and the wall. She had no place to run and the closeness of Sasuke's body to hers was causing her to feel faint. She had never ever, not once in her seventeen years of life, been this close to a boy before.

"S-Sasuke, umm y-you're a little too close," Hinata spoke in un-easy tone. If he took one more step then his body would be meshed with hers. Shouldn't this be classified as sexual harassment? Not that anyone would believe her. She could just imagine that conversation… _Oh, ah, Sasuke, the most sought out boy in Konoha, had me cornered in a dark alley and was touching me inappropriately_._ I mean I understand that he could have any other girl in town but he chose to harass me… _She could hear them all laughing at her now.

Sasuke smirked. "So?"

"I think this is an in-invasion of my p-personal space."

Sasuke couldn't help but snicker, this girl was something.

"And what makes you think I care about your personal space?"

He purposely pressed in closer to the smaller girl. He could feel her petite body squirming underneath him as she struggled to push him away. Her hands were rested on his chest as she used all her strength to push him away from her, but he was much stronger and kept pressing closer.

"Let go of m-me. I said I was s-sorry," Hinata breathed softly while she still continued to push him away.

"No," he replied plainly. He would keep her around for a while; until he got bored of her.

Sasuke didn't know why he did it, but he removed his left hand from the wall and caught Hinata's chin in between his calloused hand. He forced her head upwards so that she was looking right at him and gradually brought himself closer to her face. His lips were hovering over hers, ready to kiss her at any moment.

Hinata couldn't understand why Sasuke was doing this. She didn't want to kiss him; she wanted her first kiss to be special. He was going to kiss her and she was powerless to stop him. She could feel his hot breath on her face and hear the rapid beating of her own heartbeat.

She closed her eyes and was soon engulfed by darkness.

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Hinata woke up with a huge headache as she opened her eyes slowly. She felt a little woozy and was unable to identify her surroundings. Where was she? 

Just then a toothbrush was shoved in front of her face. Hinata stared at the small, blue toothbrush and was startled to see that Sasuke was the one shoving the object in her face. Hinata then started to recall all of the recent events that occurred between her and Sasuke.

He tried to kiss her!

Hinata quickly jumped up and moved away from Sasuke as far as she could. She wouldn't let him trap her again. Hinata looked around and recognized it as Sasuke's house and with the giant bed in the middle of the room, she knew she was in the bedroom.

"S-stay back," Hinata said in a shaky voice as she tried to put more distance between them.

Sasuke simply rolled his eyes and tossed the toothbrush at her.

Hinata caught the small object and stared at it. "W-what's this for?"

"Payback," he stated simply.

Hinata didn't quite understand what he was talking about. "What?"

"Because of your stupid mistake, you're going to have to clean my kitchen floor," Hinata still couldn't understand why he kept shoving this silly toothbrush in her face, "with that toothbrush."

She couldn't believe that he was making her do something so absurd. Had he even seen his kitchen before? It looked like it was covered in a thick layer of molasses and he expected her to clean it with a toothbrush? That was just plain cruel.

Sasuke didn't say anything and left Hinata to her thoughts and walked out of the room. Hinata came out of the room a few seconds later and saw Sasuke sitting on the couch in his living room.

"I don't think a toothbrush is necessary," Hinata said in a calm voice, proud of herself for not stuttering.

"I think it is," Sasuke countered.

"B-but-"

"I won't let you leave until that floor is sparkling."

Hinata weighed her options. She could stand here and argue with him; an argument which she knows she would lose or she could just quietly do what he says and clean the floor with the toothbrush and get out of his house sooner. She sighed in defeat. She did make all of his shorts go pink and she defiantly didn't want to piss him off again, not after what happened before.

Hinata silently made her way to the kitchen and saw that a bucket of soapy water was already there waiting for her.

Working really sucks.

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After five long hours of hard scrubbing and polishing, she was done. Her fingers ached, her knees were bruised and her body was crying for a good rub down, but she was done. Hinata got up from the floor and admired her work. It was beautiful. Not a single area on that floor had a speck of dirt on it. 

Hinata was so into her work that she hadn't even noticed Sasuke's presence. She wasn't even sure if he was in the house anymore. She made her way to the living room to tell him that she was done when she noticed that Sasuke was on the couch fast asleep.

Hinata couldn't help but grow a little angry. There she was, crouched on the floor, armed with a toothbrush, scrubbing the daylights out of the floor and he was here peacefully sleeping?

Hinata crouched beside the couch and looked down at the sleeping figure. She had to admit that he looked kind of gentle when he was sleeping. Far less intimidating and scary when he was awake and had his usual fixed scowl.

Hinata wanted to ask him about what happened before and to question him about why he was going to kiss her. It defiantly didn't fit into his character to randomly kiss girls in dark alleyways, so then why would he choose her? Was is just something that happened in the spur of the moment? Probably.

She was honestly terrified of the answer and even more scared to ask him the question. She wasn't really good with confrontations.

Hinata saw that his bangs were fallen on his face and were dangerously close to his mouth and decided that she should move them away before he choked on his own hair. She reached her hand out to move his hair from his face when something got a hold of her wrist and stopped her actions in mid-air.

"What are you doing?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke and saw his cold eyes staring at her.

"N-nothing. Your hair-"

"Trying to take advantage of me in my sleep?"

Hinata gasped in shock and shook her head feverously while turning into a dark shade of red. She immediately removed her wrist from his hand and moved a few steps away from him.

"N-no."

Sasuke couldn't believe how easy it was to get this girl flustered. He would defiantly have fun with her. He swiftly got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen and saw that the floor was sparkling. Was white the real colour of the floor tiles all along? He was actually impressed by how good of a cleaning job she did, but was damned if he was ever going to tell her that.

"Mediocre," he stated in a plain voice.

Hinata couldn't believe her ears. He said it was mediocre? What was wrong with it? There was no way that she could ever please this guy. She didn't care if he liked it or not. She was tired and hungry and just wanted to go home.

"Can I go home n-now?"

Sasuke nodded his head and watched Hinata's face light up as she made her way to the front door to exit.

"Come back same time tomorrow."

Hinata froze in her spot. Same time tomorrow? She wasn't going to come back ever! Not to work for him after everything that happened. She turned around slowly.

"I'm s-sorry, but I'm not c-coming tomorrow," Hinata said with little confidence.

"Yes you are. You work for me and you come whenever I tell you to," Sasuke said in an arrogant voice as he crossed his arms.

"I quit," Hinata said in small voice.

Sasuke looked at her with indifference. "Of course a weak girl like you would quit. You couldn't even do one single task right. Your pathetic."

Hinata wanted to cry, but she would never shed tears in front of such a heartless person. Her father's words echoed in her ears. She would show him that she wasn't weak or pathetic.

"Your wrong. I-I'm not pathetic or w-weak and I won't quit. I'll be here tomorrow."

Hinata left the house in a hurry before he could say anything else to her that would make her change her mind.

Working for Sasuke was defiantly going to be marked under as one of the worst working experiences ever!

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	4. Chapter IV

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**_Chapter_ IV**

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_Wash the dishes…_

_Sweep the floor…_

_Clean out the gutters…_

_Pull out the ten foot weeds from the backyard… _

_Scrape the fourteen layers of crap off the stove top… Oh Lord! _

A few days ago, Hinata had been more than ecstatic that Naruto found her a job; it hadn't been her dream job -far from it-, but it was her first real job and she had been thrilled nonetheless. But three days of working with Sasuke and listening to his arrogant, brooding voice, spewing orders at her left and right was making her go insane.

He had been working her to the bone and she knew he was doing it on purpose too because he still hadn't gotten over the whole pink shorts incident. How many times did she have to apologize for that?

He was manipulating her but she just wouldn't allow herself to quit because of her pride. She would not allow another man to deem her weak and frail or add another person to the already long enough list of people who thought she was a pathetic girl. She promised herself that she would work for him for the whole summer, no matter what. But trying to keep that promise was getting harder and harder every time she saw him.

The worst part of it all was that she was actually afraid of him. No, she was deathly afraid of him. The way he looked at her, with his angry and judgmental scowl, made her feel so uncomfortable that she would resort to a stuttering wreck. And after the alley encounter, she had made a metal note to stay at least ten feet away from him at all times.

So here she was, standing in the middle of Sasuke's living room looking up at a twelve foot ladder that she was suppose to climb so that she could dust off his ceiling fan. Hinata couldn't help but wonder if he deliberately thought of these ridiculous chores for her to do, just so he could see her squirm.

Hinata sighed. This was the last task of the day and it was already five o'clock and so dark outside because of the murky clouds that had been looming over them the whole day.

Hinata fiddled with her fingers, something that she did when she was nervous. She glanced over to the figure who was sitting on the sofa reading some type of book on techniques. He was stuck inside of the house because of the bad weather.

"Ah, Sasuke?"

Sasuke raised a brow and looked at the smaller girl before returning his gaze back to the book. "What?"

"I don't t-think it's a good idea f-for me to climb the ladder," Hinata spoke softly.

"Why not?"

Normally, this task wouldn't have been so bad and she wouldn't have complained, but she was mildly afraid of heights and terribly allergic to dust.

"I'm n-not good with heights and I'm a-allergic to dust."

Sasuke looked uninterested. "Will it kill you?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke with a confused expression. What kind of question was that?

"N-no. I just sneeze a-a lot."

Sasuke turned a page in his book. "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger."

"Ah, I g-guess," Hinata replied in a small voice. So much for making him feel sympathetic towards her problem. Why did she even bother to tell him anything when all he did was ignore her requests and pleas?

Hinata was about to climb the ladder when Sasuke got up and stood on the opposite side of the ladder.

"I'll stand here and hold the ladder stable," Sasuke said calmly as he once again buried his nose in the book.

Hinata was surprised by his offer and his ability to show any compassion towards her. Even though he was just standing next to the ladder and reading a book while she made her way up, she felt safer having him next to her.

Hinata truly appreciated the nice gesture, but then realized that the only reason he was even home was because there was a thunder storm going on outside and he didn't have anything better to do. Go figures!

Hinata climbed the ladder slowly; good thing she didn't wear a skirt today and started to dust the fan with the feather duster. Huge chunks of black dust that had been collecting over the years fell to the ground. Even though Hinata made sure to dust everything off in the opposite direction, some of the particles had made their way up her nose.

Hinata could feel the urge to sneeze but tried her hardest to keep them in as she continued to dust away. The harder she tried to hold it in, the worse it was getting and as she learned over the years, nothing ever went the way she planned.

Hinata just couldn't hold it in anymore and a trail of sneeze, after sneeze, after sneeze struck and before she could do anything she lost her balance and started to slip off the ladder.

Hinata screamed uncharacteristically and wailed her arms frantically in an attempt to regain her balance but fell backwards and right into something nice and warm. She held onto Sasuke's shirt as a reaction to the fall and leaned in closer to his warm body. He smelled so good.

Wait? Why was she smelling Sasuke? Why was she in his arms?

Sasuke had actually caught her? That was a little too nice of him…

Hinata opened her eyes as she glanced upwards and stared into mysterious, beautiful orbs of darkness. Why was his expression always so unreadable? For a split second, she saw his eyes soften and she forgot where she was. All she knew was that she was in this breathless moment… with him.

He held on to her tightly as they speechlessly stared at each other. The pitter-patter of rain drops falling outside could be heard and suddenly the harsh quip of thunder broke both of them from their trance. Hinata blushed as she regained her sense.

He roughly let go of her and she fell to the ground with a thump. So much for saving her from falling to the ground.

"Don't do that again," he said coolly as he walked away.

Like she wanted to fall into his arms anyways, although she had to admit it felt nice, like something out of a fairy tale! Her blush deepened. She shouldn't be thinking those thoughts about Sasuke; he hated her and she disliked him, immensely. Although she couldn't help but smile just a little.

It had been a long day and nothing sounded better then a nice hot shower and the comfort of her own bed. She was craving for some sleep...

Just then another flash of lightening harshly struck the earth and all of a sudden all the lights in the house went out. They were both swallowed up by total darkness.

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**A/N**: I'm not particularity happy with this chapter. It was kind of all over the place with not enough detail or dialogue. I think I'm coming down with a severe case of writers block and I just don't know where I want to take the story. I might re-do this chapter. Blah! Life sucks! I promise the next chapter will be extremely long... I'm going to have fun with the idea of two teenagers stuck in a dark house in the middle of a storm... Hmmmmm...

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	5. Chapter V

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**_Chapter V_**

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Just then another flash of lightening harshly struck the earth and all of a sudden all the lights in the house went out. They were both swallowed up by total darkness. 

Hinata looked around frantically as the roar of the lightening struck once again. She really hated thunder storms. She got up from the floor and heard Sasuke shuffle around in the dark.

"Oh shit," Sasuke muttered quietly to himself in the dark. Not only had he been stuck inside the house with her because of the damn weather- he was now stuck in the house with the same annoying girl, in the freaking dark! He couldn't even read his book now.

"Sasuke?" Hinata asked cautiously as she activated her byakugan and located him in mere seconds. He was standing only a few feet away from her. Sasuke sensed her presence near him and suddenly realized the famous Hyuuga trait she possessed. Finally, she proved to be of some value.

"Hinata, there's a flashlight in the cabinet beside the stove top. Go get it," Sasuke ordered in a authoritative voice; he would've done it himself, but he couldn't see anything.

Hinata quietly complied with the request and made her way to the kitchen to get the flashlight. She brought it over and handed it to Sasuke, who took it without even saying a single word of appreciation.

He turned it on and walked into the kitchen to look for candles and other light sources.

Hinata followed behind him and quietly took at seat at the breakfast table. She couldn't possibly go home now. If the lights went out here, then they must've gone out everywhere else and she couldn't walk home in the dark streets by herself. Hinata glanced outside the window and saw that it was almost pitch black outside.

"I wanted to go home," Hinata whispered more to herself then Sasuke, however he still heard.

Sasuke snorted. "What's stopping you?"

Hinata wanted to say… _Hmm, geez! How about the fact that all of Konoha doesn't have any light and that there's a giant storm going on outside that's pouring buckets of rain and shooting lightening bolts every two seconds _but chose to ignore another one of his rude comments. Sasuke soon brought over candles and a lighter and lit up three candles that provided enough sufficient light for the time being. He swiftly sat in the chair next to her and crossed his arms. This was going to be so boring and he couldn't even pass the time reading.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"This is so fucking boring," he bluntly stated.

Hinata was a little taken back by his dirty language. "Its not good to s-swear."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Why?"

"Its rude."

"So?"

Hinata sighed. Why argue with someone who just didn't care?

"We could play a game?" Hinata said as she fidgeted with her hands.

"I don't have games," Sasuke responded plainly. Games were for little kids and stupid people who had nothing better to do with their time.

"We just need a paper and pen," Hinata said calmly and got up to grab the pen and paper that was kept in her bag. She came back and started thinking of the games she played with friends when they were bored in school.

"Do you want to play hang-man?"

Sasuke glared at Hinata like she was some idiot. "Hate it."

"Ah, tic-tac-toe?"

"Hate it."

"SOS?"

"Hate it," Sasuke repeated once again as he watched the small girl sitting in front of him scratch her head and try to come up with new game ideas. Watching her struggle was more fun then any paper game.

"How about MASH?"

Mash? What the hell was that? Sasuke had heard of it before but he had never really played it.

"What's that?"

"I-it's a game that you use to p-predict your future. Its never true but its fun to p-play," Hinata said in a quiet voice as she blushed. Maybe _Mash _wasn't such a good idea, it was kind of a personal game that you only played with your girlfriends.

"Fine, its better then just sitting here," Sasuke said in a cold tone. He couldn't believe he was going to play such a stupid game, but there was nothing else he could do.

"Ah, okay." Hinata drew a large box in the corner of the page and wrote M-A-S-H on top of the square as Sasuke watched in silence.

"M means m-mansion, A means apartment, S means sh-shack and H means house."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "This is so stupid…"

Hinata ignored his comment; something she was used to doing by now.

"I n-need you to tell me names of four people who are male."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Its part of the game," Hinata explained calmly.

Sasuke started thinking. He didn't have very many friends but that was only because he didn't like socializing with people. People simply annoyed/aggravated/angered/ him.

"Naruto and Kakashi," Sasuke said coolly. Those were the only two people he mostly associated with.

Hinata wrote down the names diligently on the right side of the box. "Two more."

"You choose." It was a stupid game anyways.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked as she looked over to Sasuke and saw him shrug lightly. "Umm, Neji and Kiba," she said as she wrote down the other two names.

Sasuke's eye twitched slightly at the names Hinata put down. He hardly ever talked to those two and if things went well, it would stay that way.

"Now I need four of your favorite numbers."

"I don't have a favorite number."

"Then just four random numbers," Hinata said gently, but deep down she was starting to get annoyed of his "I hate everything" attitude. Its not like she wanted to get stuck in a dark house with him either, but she was still trying to make the best of it.

" 2... 4... 8... 13..."

Hinata wrote down the numbers quickly on the bottom of the square and suddenly felt nervous when she realized what question she would have to ask him next. Her face went red, but thankfully it was too dark for him to notice the colour change on her face.

"A-ah, I n-need you to name four girls," Hinata asked in very low voice.

Sasuke was getting annoyed. "Why are there so many damn questions?"

"It's the last one," Hinata said reassuringly, still trying to calm herself down.

"What kind of girls?" He asked suddenly.

"U-usually people y-you like," the girl said as she stared down at the piece of sheet in front of her.

Sasuke smirked. He could tell that this last question was causing her weird change in behavior. "You choose."

"I-I don't k-know who y-you like."

"I don't like anyone."

Okay then... Hinata thought about possible girls to put down for a moment.

"Is Temari okay?" Hinata had remembered that the last time Gaara and his sister had visited, Temari had said that she thought Sasuke was cute. Sasuke just shrugged as she added the name to the list on the left side of the box. Who else could she put down there? Almost every girl in town was in love with Sasuke.

"And I g-guess I can put down Ino and Sakura s-since they like you so much," Hinata said as she wrote the names of his number one fan-girls down. "Only one more girl."

"Hinata," Sasuke said smoothly.

Hinata looked at Sasuke. "Yes?"

"Put down Hinata."

Hinata nodded and looked down at the piece of paper and started writing down the name. H-I-N-A…Wait? Hinata was her name. She looked up at Sasuke and saw him sitting there with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face. He said her name on purpose.

"You can't a-add me."

"Why not? You said any four girls."

"B-but, I'm the one--"

"Its just a stupid game. You said yourself, nothing of it is true," Sasuke said as he interrupted Hinata.

Hinata kept her gaze on the white piece of paper. He did have a point and it was one out of four odds that it would land on her.

"I-I guess," Hinata replied as she finished writing down her name, but she still couldn't help but blush. "I'm going to draw lines and you tell me to stop."

Sasuke nodded and watched as the smaller girl started to randomly draw lines within the box until he told her to stop. Hinata counted the scattered lines and the total came out to eight. From then on, she just stared going around the box crossing off people and numbers and Sasuke had to admit that he was a little curious of what she was doing.

On the other hand, Hinata was getting nervous seeing that Ino and Tamari were crossed off already and now it was only between her and Sakura. She could cheat if she wanted to and just circle Sakura, but she didn't like the idea of lying and cheating, but then again, she didn't want to face the embarrassment of telling Sasuke that she would be his…

Hinata finally stopped writing and looked at Sasuke.

"What?"

"It says that you'll live in a mansion and your best friend for life will be Naruto…"

Sasuke growled. Great, now he knew that he was going to be stuck with that idiot for life.

"umm, you'll have eight kids," Sasuke looked unfazed by that and Hinata couldn't help but giggle. Sasuke with kids was a funny thought.

"And, you'll be married to Sakura," she finally said, but something in her voice seemed suspicious. Hinata wondered what color of hair their kids would have… Blue? Pink? Or a mixture of both? What colour did that even make?

Sasuke groaned and got up with the flashlight. "That was such a waste of my time."

"Where are you going?"

Sasuke didn't respond and left the kitchen. Hinata waited a couple of minutes and when he didn't come back she decided to go look for him because she didn't want to be left alone in the dark. However, as soon as she made up her mind to go search for him, he returned to the table with a book. He focused the flashlight on the pages and started reading. They both sat quietly for a fifteen minutes until Hinata broke the silence.

"Y-you shouldn't r-read when its this dark. Its bad for the e-eyes."

Sasuke put down the book and looked over to the girl. "Why do you care about what happens to my eyes?"

That was a good question. Why did she care?

"I-I… care about e-everyone," Hinata said meekly.

"Really? So, you don't hate me after all the work I gave you?"

"N-no, I don't hate anyone."

"So, if someone did something bad to your family, you wouldn't hate them?"

Hinata pondered the question. "What kind of bad thing?"

"Anything," Sasuke said in an angry tone.

"I-I think that everything happens for a reason and instead of harboring hatred, l-like most people do, we should focus on what we have. You will only hurt yourself if you carry so much hate in your heart."

Sasuke looked away and didn't give her an answer back and they both sat in the dark in silence once again. Sasuke couldn't concentrate on his book anymore and kept repeating Hinata's words in his head. Stupid girl didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't lose her entire family in one night. She didn't have to suffer through the punishment of living alone for the rest of her life. She didn't get nightmares of being brutally sliced to death by your own brother and she most defiantly did not understand how the thirst of revenge over-took you, that you can't help but think about it every hour, minute and second of the day. She just didn't understand and she never would.

Hinata glanced over at Sasuke and saw that he had his usual scowl planted on his face. Why was he so angry all the time? She wished that she had brought some reading material with her also, but how was she suppose to know that she would be stuck with a grumpy Sasuke in the middle of the storm. Hinata sat still with her elbows on the table and her head resting in them. She was so bored.

Suddenly awaking Hinata from her sleepy trance was the noise of someone crashing into something. It sounded like it was coming from outside of the house and Hinata immediately turned on her byakugan. She couldn't see the figure very well, but she knew something was there.

"Sasuke? I heard something," Hinata whispered to the boy next to her.

Sasuke turned off all the candles and the flashlight and started to get up.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked as she also got up.

Sasuke grabbed the flashlight and reached out to Hinata and formed a tight grip on her upper arm. Hinata gasped at the sudden contact.

"Without the light they won't be able to spot us as easily. Now guide me to where you see it," Sasuke spoke in a harsh whisper.

Hinata guided him to the window where she could see a glow of energy. She stood to the left side of the window.

"There," she said in a low whisper. Sasuke moved forward and Hinata leaned in close behind him. He extended his arm behind him, over Hinata's small body as he stood in a protective stance. However, what he didn't realize was that his arm was extended along her breasts and Hinata was glowing like a light bulb from embarrassment.

"Sasuke?"

"Shhh…."

"Sasuke..."

Hinata tried once again. "Sasuke."

"What?" He asked angrily as he looked over his shoulder. What the hell was her problem?

"Your a-arm," Hinata said meekly. She was dying of humiliation inside. Sasuke then realized where his arm was and removed it quickly. Sasuke scowled; only Hinata could think of something so irrelevant at a time like this.

"Are you sure something is there?" Sasuke asked the smaller girl.

"Yes," Hinata squeaked out.

Sasuke once again focused on the task of finding the intruder. He glanced outside and saw nothing. Not that he could see anything in the dark anyways. He turned the flashlight on and in one quick movement, opened the window and started investigating the area. In the corner, a big, hairy fuzz ball was crouching near the house wall before it leapt away.

Sasuke scowled. He abruptly closed the window, turned around and directly flashed the light onto Hinata's face. Hinata winced at the bright light as she closed her eyes and rubbed them. Sasuke was about to yell at the poor girl when suddenly the flashlight started to dim and then completely shut off.

"Great," Sasuke hissed. Why did lights tend to go out when he was with Hinata?

He walked forward so that he could grab Hinata and she could lead him back to kitchen when he tripped over something and fell onto Hinata. With Hinata being much smaller then Sasuke and temporarily blind, she couldn't support his weight and her knees unbuckled under him and fell with him on top of her.

Hinata groaned from the pain and she could feel his warm body on top of her.

Sasuke's head was rested on Hinata's shoulder and she could feel his feather-like hair on her cheeks. Their legs and arms were tangled within each other as they both lay on the floor in a giant heap.

Coincidentally, Sasuke lifted his head the same time Hinata moved her head to the left and they ended up brushing noses. Hinata didn't know what she was feeling. She was feeling so many things at one time. Fear…panic…worry… anxiety and just a little tinge of desire. She was glad that it was so dark because she didn't want him to see her blush.

Just as quick as the lights had turned off before, all the lights flickered back on. Sasuke and Hinata blinked numerously as they adjusted their eyes to the new bright light. Hinata blushed at the fact that she was lying underneath Sasuke. Sasuke also realized this and quickly jumped off Hinata like she was hot coal.

He offered his hand and helped her get up. "Get your stuff. I'll walk you home."

Hinata simply nodded and stood there stunned for a couple of seconds before she headed off home.

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**A/N: **If you want to know the _real_ answer to the MASH game, then you can play it yourself. Just follow the instructions EXACTLY listed in the chapter and you'll find out if Hinata was lying or not. Visit my profile for any information I post about the story.

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	6. Chapter VI

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**_Chapter VI_**

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Hinata sighed happily as she continued to tangle herself in the bed sheets and breathed in the wonderful scent of morning freshness. Ah, how she loved Sundays! Today, there would be no work, no cleaning and defiantly no Sasuke. Today she just wanted to be lazy and lounge around the house doing absolutely nothing. Hey! She was allowed to be lazy one day out of the week, especially when she had a boss like Sasuke. 

Hinata stared up at the white ceiling and recalled all the events that occurred this past week. Working with Sasuke has been quite the experience. They had started off on the wrong foot, but Hinata had to admit that things were getting somewhat better between them now. Sasuke wasn't as bitter towards her as he had been when she first started working for him and Hinata was sure that they could become friends in the future… but probably not anytime soon. She was also starting to become a little bit more comfortable around Sasuke and stuttered less around him.

Moreover, Hinata couldn't get over this feeling she got whenever she would accidentally brush her hand, or arm against him by mistake. She would start to feel warm, her face would turn into a ripe tomato and would be at a loss of words; just like the old times with Naruto. Every time she thought about Sasuke, she felt like was being tickled from inside her stomach. Not to mention, the many times that Hinata had "fallen" into his arms was causing her to feel giddy every time she recalled the incident.

Hinata shook her head as she tried to erase any thoughts of Sasuke. She _did_ _not _like Sasuke. Nope. Not one bit. Never. Although, she had to admit that quiet, angsty, bad boys were kind of attractive in their own weird way. Bah! What was she thinking? She only liked nice guys like Naruto; guys who actually knew how to converse politely with a girl… maybe Naruto wasn't the best example, but still, Naruto was so adorable, not crazy-scary like Sasuke.

Breaking Hinata from her thoughts was the sound of a knock on the door. Not wanting to get out of bed yet, Hinata childishly pulled the blanket over her head and pretended to be asleep. Maybe Neji would go away if he thought that she was sleeping, however, Neji knew Hinata too well to just let her off the hook.

Neji knocked on the door once more, but when he didn't get a respond, he opened the door and saw a small lump wiggling under the blanket.

Neji walked closer and grabbed a corner of the blanket. "I know your not asleep."

Hinata tried to stifle a giggle, but still kept on the sleeping façade as she tried her hardest to stay still. Neji smirked as he pulled the entire blanket off Hinata and watched as his cousin shrieked when the cold air hit her body.

"Neji, that's not fair, it's a Sunday today," Hinata pouted and complained as she crossed her arms, much like Sasuke, trying to fake anger. Sasuke was really starting to have bad influence on her. Neji was the only person who ever got to see this side of Hinata. Usually she was so quiet and reserved, but with people she trusted, she was very open and playful.

Neji gave her a stern look. "And that's an excuse to stay in bed all day?"

"Yes," Hinata replied as she grinned sheepishly and tried to yank the blanket away from her cousin. However, Neji quickly pulled it further away from her.

"Go take a shower."

Hinata pouted. "But-"

"Go."

"I don't have work today-"

"Now," Neji said with more force. He couldn't believe how lazy his cousin had become. It was almost one in the afternoon and she was still sleeping? If he hadn't come in to wake her up, she would've spent the whole day in her bed.

Hinata slowly retreated to her bathroom. "Your worse than father," Hinata muttered quietly under her breath before she entered the adjacent room.

"I heard that," Neji replied before he exited her room and Hinata smiled softly from behind the closed door. What would she do without Neji?

* * *

Sasuke scowled as he walked ahead of three half-pint size kids who were walking behind him and loudly chatting amongst themselves. Right now, Tsunade was surpassing Itachi on the list of people he wanted to kill. That woman sure had a fiery temper! So what if he called her an old hag? She was so testy about her age. 

So here he was, babysitting three ninja-wannabes because Tsunade couldn't take a simple remark about her obvious old age. Tsunade knew that he hated kids, especially ones that were so loud and she purposely stuck him with this "highly crucial mission," as she put it, to get back at him. What a conniving wench!

He couldn't even leave the stupid kids anywhere because she bribed the kids with candy and told them to report back to her immediately if they were left in anyone else's care. Who knew that a bunch of 8 year olds would be so loyal? Sasuke had tried to bribe them with everything that he could think of to keep their mouth shut, but they simply refused.

The amount of noise these kids had made within their first hour together was starting to give Sasuke a pounding headache. Only three more hours and he would be free.

"Hey mister! Where are we going?"

Sasuke ignored the small boy's question and continued walking towards his destination in a quick pace.

"Hey? Are you deaf or something? Mister?"

Sasuke muttered a curse word under his breath as he tried to calm himself down before he knocked the kid out. Self-control is a virtue, right?

They rounded a corner and came to a large building complex.

The three little kids looked up at the big building. "What are we doing here?" asked the little girl, but Sasuke once again chose to ignore any questions/comments that came from them. He really hated kids.

"I thought we were going to the park?"

"I wanted to go to the park."

"Me too! Do you live here mister?" asked the boy with dark hair. When he didn't get an answer, he whispered to the girl next to him. "I don't think we should trust this guy." The girl nodded in agreement. The three kids immediately became more alert.

The four made their way silently up to an apartment and Sasuke knocked on the door. From behind the door, Sasuke heard a girl yelling, 'I'm coming' and heard footsteps of her running towards the door. She opened the door and looked shocked to see Sasuke with three kids beside him looking up at her.

"Sasuke? Umm, hi," Hinata said sheepishly as she wondered why in the world Sasuke was here with three random kids.

"That's why we're here? So you can see your girlfriend? And to think I missed the park for this," one of the little boys spoke out rudely.

Hinata stiffened and blushed when he heard the boy call her Sasuke's girlfriend.

"Pardon me little boy, but I'm not his girlfriend," Hinata said in a polite manner.

"Hey! Don't call me a little boy. I have a name y'know!" Just then the three little kids started jumping around, like they were being attacked by invisible ants in the pants and started striking poses every so often.

Sasuke leaned against the door frame near Hinata and rolled his eyes. Kids were so stupid.

"My name is Konohamaru and I'm going to be future hokage," the boy with goggles and thick black hair said as he stood in a dramatic pose.

"My name is Moegi and I use my sex appeal to trap evil enemies," the little girl with high pigtails and red hair spoke. "I can see that my sex appeal has already affected Mr. Grumpy here," she said as she sent a flying kiss towards Sasuke.

Sasuke suppressed the urge to run off and kill the hokage right now. Hinata couldn't help but giggle. These kids were so cute!

"And I'm Udon and I… I -sniff-" he looked at his other team members, "hey guys, what do I do again?"

Konohamaru looked at his teammate with a confused expression. "Aren't you the smart one?"

The little girl shook her head. "No, he's the fast one!"

"No! He's the smart one!"

"I'm the smart one, he's the fast one!"

"No, I'm the fast one," Konohamaru retaliated as he continued arguing with the girl.

"Enough already," Sasuke said in a very annoyed tone as he broke up the bickering kids. He would not enjoy any of his time with these brats.

Sasuke turned around and looked at Hinata. "I need you to _assist_ me in taking care of these kids for a couple of hours."

Hinata looked at Sasuke in surprise. He was asking her to help him take care of these kids on her day off? On her only day off? But she had a full day of nothing planned.

"Ah, umm, I'm off today," Hinata replied in a quiet voice.

Before Sasuke could say anything, the little girl tugged at Hinata's sleeve. "Please come with us! Don't leave us alone with him, he's mean," the little girl turned around to face Sasuke and stuck her tongue out at him.

Sasuke glared at the kids. They hadn't seen mean yet.

"Umm, well," Hinata said as she chewed on her lower lip. She really didn't want to leave these poor defenseless kids with Sasuke. Who knows what he would do if they annoyed him enough and she wasn't the type of person who would refuse helping someone and Sasuke was someone who really needed help when it came to kids.

Konohamaru and Udon joined their female companion and started tugging on Hinata's shirt. "Please? Pretty please?"

Hinata just couldn't resist their cute little faces. Why did she have to be so nice?

"Okay," Hinata replied in a defeated tone. The kids jumped up and down as they cheered happily and Hinata smiled at their antics. So much for a day of quiet and relaxation. The children were glad that they wouldn't have to be stuck with only Sasuke all day.

"Lets go," Sasuke said as he started walking towards the exit stairs.

"Where?" asked Hinata in confusion.

"We're going to the park," Moegi said in excitement as she pulled Hinata's hand. "Its going to be so much fun. They just got a huge slide and I wanna go on it."

"Me too!" The boys screamed as they ran after Sasuke. Hinata quickly grabbed her bag and locked her apartment.

A whole day at the park! Whop-de-do!

* * *

Sasuke and Hinata sat on the bench in the park as they watched the kids play in the sandbox. Hinata had just spent well over two hours playing all sorts of games with the kids and was now resting. Sasuke, however, hadn't moved an inch from his spot on the bench all afternoon, refusing to take part in any silly game. 

Sasuke, on the other hand, was glad that he decided to bring Hinata along with them to the park. She had kept the kids busy and out of his hair for most of the afternoon.

Hinata looked over at the kids in the park. They looked so cheerful as they ran around in the sand and it reminded her of when she, Hanabi and Neji would go to the park together on beautiful sunny days. She glanced over to Sasuke who was sitting with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Why couldn't he at least enjoy the wonderful weather?

"So, how come you had to baby-sit today?" Hinata asked out of curiosity.

Sasuke grunted. "That old hag Tsunade made me."

"You really shouldn't say things like that about Tsunade. She doesn't like it when people comment on her age," Hinata replied softly.

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes. He learnt that a little too late. He was already suffering the consequences of that woman's wrath. How much longer did he need to be out here?

"At least you got to take care of such cute little kids. I love kids," Hinata spoke kindly as she smiled happily at the image of all the kids playing together in the sandbox. She really wanted to have kids of her own someday.

Sasuke looked over at the girl who was sitting beside him. "How come?"

Hinata didn't understand what he meant by that. "How come w-what?"

"How come you like kids?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed tone.

"How can you not love kids? They're just so adorable," Hinata said as she passed a stray ball back to a little girl.

"Kids are stupid and annoying."

"As I recall, you were once a kid yourself," Hinata said as she imagined how cute Sasuke must've been as an eight year old.

"Don't remind me," Sasuke muttered as he once again closed his eyes and tried to ignore Hinata.

Unexpectedly, Konohamaru walked up to the sitting pair. "Hey mister, come play with us. We're playing _Knights_ and we need a hideous dragon."

Sasuke opened his one eye and looked at the dirty kid. "No."

"But you would be perfect," the little boy protested as he stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

"No."

"Please? Please? Pretty please?"

"No."

The boy stomped his feet in the sand and screamed. "Why not?"

Sasuke remained unfazed by the boy's tantrum. "Take Hinata."

Hinata sat quietly as she observed the little quarrel between Sasuke and Konohamaru. Sasuke really needed to be a little bit more kinder to small children.

"She's too pretty and nice to be a dragon. Only you can play the part."

Sasuke opened his eyes and leaned forward towards the kid in an attempt to intimidate the boy, but it didn't seem like it was working. "Listen kid, I'm not playing with you, so go away."

The boy pouted and stuck his tongue out at the dark-haired teen. "Your so mean! Why is Hinata even your girlfriend? I don't know what she sees in you."

Before Hinata could correct the little boy _again _Sasuke interrupted her. "She sees plenty in me, now scram."

Hinata couldn't believe her ears. Did he just tell Konohamaru that they were together? She watched as the little boy ran off to meet up with his other friends and saw as he whispered in their ears. All three of the kids started whispering and giggling as they pointed fingers towards their direction.

Why the heck did it just get so warm? Why was she blushing? She _did not_ like Sasuke and she defiantly didn't care if he just indirectly told a little kid that there was something between them. But why didn't Sasuke just deny the boy's accusation? Hinata mentally told herself to not get worked up and that she simply did not care.

"W-why did you tell him that?" Hinata asked in a shaky voice. Okay. So she cared a little bit.

Sasuke shrugged. "I wanted him to shut up."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "There were other methods, you know."

Sasuke smirked as he stared directly at Hinata. "I know."

Hinata avoided his confident gaze and looked down at her feet. Why did she agree to come to the park with him again? Oh yeah, the kids!

"Kids are stupid. He'll forget everything anybody said to him today," Sasuke said as he got up from the bench. "Lets go drop off the brats."

Hinata nodded softly as she went to go collect the kids.

She _did not _like Sasuke.

* * *

**_Please Review_**

* * *

TBC 


	7. Chapter VII

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**_Chapter VII_**

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Sasuke, Hinata and Konohamaru walked down the busy streets of Konoha as they made their way to Konohamaru's house to drop him off. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was slowly going down and it left a shimmering, purple hue over the village. A gentle breeze whisked through the streets. 

Hinata glanced over to Sasuke, who was walking beside her in silence and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. Sasuke was carrying Konohamaru on his back because the little hokage wannabe said his legs hurt and Sasuke offered to carry him. It was just too cute for words. Hinata knew that deep down Sasuke was a good person, he just had a difficult time showing it.

Hinata looked around and sighed wishfully. The streets were full of couples in love and small families who were out for an evening stroll. Hinata hoped that one day, she would be able to walk with her husband and kids and come out for a nice evening stroll. She always wanted one boy and one girl, but she just couldn't find prince charming. For the longest time, she thought Naruto was the one for her, but she learned the hard way, that it was never meant to be. She looked over at Sasuke. His face was a bit more softer as the last rays of light played gently on his face. It looked like he was in deep thought and Hinata wished that she could figure out what was going on in his head.

"I want ice cream!" Konohamaru suddenly screamed as they passed a small ice cream cart.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he continued walking, ignoring any pleas and cries from the boy. Hinata looked at Konohamaru and saw his disappointed face.

"If you buy him some ice cream, it'll keep him quiet," Hinata said softly, hoping that he would listen to her.

Sasuke growled and stopped walking. He looked over to Hinata and she smiled at him. He was turning into such a softie.

"Fine," he said as they turned back and headed towards the ice cream stand. Konohamaru clapped his hands in excitement and smiled from ear to ear.

The three approached the small ice cream cart and were greeted by a short, chubby, balding man, who's apron was covered with ice cream. He kind of looked like Santa Clause, except without the big, white beard.

"What can I do for you today?" He asked in a jolly voice.

"I want chocolate, please," Konohamaru yelled excitedly, while he was still perched on Sasuke's back.

"One chocolate coming right up," the old man said as he grabbed a cone and started filling it with delicious chocolate ice cream. Once he was done, he handed it over to the boy.

"And will the misses have anything today?" A barely noticeable pink hue played on Hinata's cheeks when she heard what he called her. What was it with people assuming that she was with Sasuke? Couldn't a boy and a girl go out without being labeled as a couple? Instead of correcting him, Hinata simply shook her head horizontally, signaling the answer no.

"She'll have a vanilla cone," Sasuke said smoothly. The bald man went off to filling another ice cream cone and handed it to Hinata. Hinata thanked the man and Sasuke paid for the ice cream and they left.

"Thank you for the ice cream," Hinata said gently as she licked the ice cream. Vanilla ice cream truly was her favorite, but how would Sasuke know that?

Sasuke didn't say anything as he continued to walk in silence. Konohamaru was too busy devouring his ice cream to pay attention to anything else.

"How did you know vanilla was my favorite?" Hinata asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't."

Hinata's heart sank a little. Its not like it would matter anyways, right?

"Oh." That was all that she could think of to say. It was kind of embarrassing to assume that he knew what her favorite ice cream flavor was when she never told him.

"I assumed you would like it, everyone seems to like vanilla," Sasuke said as he shrugged indifferently. He honestly didn't even know why he bothered to buy her ice cream.

Hinata nodded in understanding. She was grateful nonetheless.

"How come you didn't get any?"

"I hate ice cream."

They continued to walk in comfortable silence, taking in the beautiful scenery, until they reached Konohamaru's house. His mother was standing outside on the porch waiting for him to come home and as soon as Konohamaru spotted his mother, the little boy waved happily while he was still attached to Sasuke's back. In all the excitement, Konohamaru waved his hand, while holding the ice cream cone and with one jolting movement, all the ice cream fell onto the back of Sasuke's head.

Sasuke instantly dropped the kid when he felt a cold substance ooze down his head. He brought his hands up and touched his hair. The entire back of his head was all covered in chocolate ice cream. He knew he shouldn't have carried that whining twerp.

Konohamaru snickered. "Sorry mister!"

Before Sasuke could pound the little boy into the ground, Konohamaru quickly ran into his mother's protection.

Hinata tried hard not to laugh and put a hand over her mouth. "Sasuke..?"

"Wasn't it your idea to get him ice cream?" He said angrily to Hinata before he stocked off. She quickly followed behind him as she waved goodbye to Konohamaru and his mother.

"My apartment is only a few blocks away. You can clean yourself there," Hinata said as she tried to calm down the very pissed off Sasuke. "He's only a child, he didn't mean to."

"I hate children," Sasuke sneered.

Hinata tried to keep up with Sasuke's rapid pace as he zigzagged through the streets.

"You seemed comfortable with Konohamaru before."

"You attach yourself to people too much," Sasuke said in a monotone voice.

Hinata looked at Sasuke in confusion. "What's wrong with that?"

"You'll end up hurting yourself."

By now they had reached Hinata's building complex and were making their way up to the sixth floor.

"How?" Hinata asked softly. How could being friends or being close to someone be so bad?

"Because when you lose them, the pain is unbearable." Hinata stood still as she registered Sasuke's words.

Maybe he was right? Was this why he was so distant and reserved? It had to be. Everyone had heard of the Uchiha massacre and Hinata knew that Sasuke had lost every single family member in one night. It must've hurt so much to see your own parents die before you when you were only eight years old.

Hinata suddenly felt horrible for not being able to understand his cold behavior before and for thinking such horrible things about him. Things would be so much different for Sasuke if it never happened… he wouldn't be like this…and here she was complaining that he didn't know how to appreciate life. How can someone appreciate the little things, when everything else that matters has been taken away from them?

"Aren't you going to open the door?" Sasuke asked in annoyance as he waited in front of her apartment door. The stupid girl spaced out all of a sudden and he was waiting for her to open the door so he could clean himself.

Hinata shook out of her trance and apologized.

They entered the oddly white and very clean apartment and Hinata guided Sasuke to the bathroom. She opened the nearby closet and grabbed a towel.

"You live by yourself?" Sasuke asked. He had dropped her off home once before, but he never wondered if she lived on her own or not until now.

"Ah, no. I live with my cousin, Neji."

Sasuke turned on the tap in the wash sink and started splashing water everywhere as tried to get the chocolate out from the back of his head. He couldn't exactly see the back of his head, so he started to splash water randomly but that only resulted in making a huge mess on the counter and floor.

"Here, let me help you," Hinata said gently as she turned on the faucet in the bathtub. It would make so much more sense to wash out his hair in the tub, instead of using the small sink.

Sasuke grumbled as he made his way to the tub and crouched on his knees and hovered his head over the tub. Hinata grabbed the shampoo bottle and poured the liquid in her hand. She was about to rub it into Sasuke's head when he stopped her.

"I can do it on my own."

Hinata ignored his comment and started rubbing the substance into his hair.

"You can't always do everything on your own," she said as she gently messaged in the shampoo.

Hinata didn't realize how true those words were.

Sasuke relaxed a little as he felt her slender fingers message his scalp. It felt nice to have someone else take care of him for a change. The shampoo smelled like wild flowers, just like what Hinata always smells like. Hinata told him to keep his eyes closed because she was going to pour water now to rinse out the shampoo. A few more buckets of water and Sasuke's hair was once again clean. Sasuke had to admit that he felt disappointed that it had to end so soon.

Hinata passed him a towel and left the bathroom as he dried his hair. Sasuke soon came out of the bathroom and made his way towards the front door. Sasuke turned around and looked at the white-eyed girl.

"You don't have to come in for work tomorrow because of the baby-sitting today."

Hinata smiled. He was giving her a day off? That was actually thoughtful of him.

"Thank you," Hinata said as she smiled at the retreating figure. Hinata felt a little sad knowing that she wouldn't get to see him tomorrow.

* * *

Hinata wiped the sweat off her forehead, while she continued to sweep the kitchen floor. Another day of hard core labor! The house was quiet because Sasuke was gone out for the day and she was the only one in the giant house. She liked quiet times like these. It gave her time to think. 

She had to admit that the more time she spent with Sasuke, the more she understood him and the more she was starting to like him. He was a lost soul that needed help finding a way back to life. He didn't want to get attached to anyone because he was afraid to lose them..._again_. That was why he pushed everyone away.

Sasuke needed to learn that life would sooner or later become unbearable if he keeps pushing everyone away from him. She didn't want Sasuke to live a life of misery and loneliness. She wanted to be there for him.

_Ding Dong _

Hinata stopped sweeping when she heard the doorbell and wiped her hands as she headed towards the front door. She opened the door cautiously and was surprised to see a beautiful young woman looking right at her.

"Ah, hello?" Hinata greeted uneasily.

The woman, who was dressed in a very clingy red dress with a low neck cut off to expose her perfect breasts, ignored Hinata's greeting and pushed her aside as she made her way through the door. She looked around the house and ran a hand through her silky black hair.

"Where's Sasuke, little girl?"

Little girl? Who is she calling a little girl?

"He's out for the day," Hinata said politely, although she was a bit mad that the woman shoved her aside like that.

"Oh too bad! I was in the mood for a little something spicy," the woman replied as she eyed Hinata evilly.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Hinata. I'm his…" She really didn't want to say maid. She hated being called that; it sounded so degrading especially since she was going to become a doctor someday. But right now that's what she was, right? His maid.

The woman looked over the smaller girl from head to toe and noticed her dirty clothes and a blue bandana that she was wearing over her head.

"His maid?" The woman sneered, her eyes glowed with amusement.

Hinata didn't like this woman at all.

The woman reached into her bag and took out something that looked like a watch. Hinata knew that watch. It was Sasuke's; he always had it on. The beautiful woman handed it to Hinata.

"Make sure Sasuke gets that. He left it at my house last night."

The woman started walking towards the door and turned around and looked at Hinata.

"One more thing," she said as she placed a hand on her hip, "tell him that I had an electrifying time last night and that I hope to see him soon." She winked at Hinata and left.

What did she mean by an electrifying time last night? Was he really with her last night? Hinata didn't know that Sasuke had someone in his life. But why would he tell her? She was only the maid. So then, why did she feel like someone was squeezing her heart? Why couldn't she breath? She felt so stupid. Here she was, thinking that Sasuke was lonely, when he obviously had someone who kept him company at night. Hinata felt her eyes well up with tears as they threatened to fall down her face. Why did it hurt to know that Sasuke had a girlfriend?

Hinata closed her eyes and the tears fell down. It didn't matter. She doesn't like Sasuke. Never have, never will. Its good that Sasuke found someone to be with. She was happy for him. He didn't deserve to live alone for the rest of his life. She was truly very happy; she had never been so happy in her life before.

So then why was she crying? Why did she feel so cold? So empty? She even felt a little angry.

Hinata wiped her tears and washed her face, trying to reduce the puffiness of her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for Sasuke to see her crying like a little girl. She continued to work and tried her hardest not to think about Sasuke or his girlfriend. If he was happy, then she was happy.

An hour later, Hinata heard the door open and close. She knew it was him. She watched as Sasuke walked into the kitchen, without saying a single word to her. He shuffled through his mail and Hinata went to go get the watch that the woman gave to her.

"A woman dropped this off for you," Hinata said as she handed the watch over to Sasuke. She concealed the hurt from her voice. There was nothing to be hurt about, Hinata convinced herself.

When Sasuke didn't say anything, Hinata continued. "She said she had a-an electrifying time last night."

Sasuke smirked. Hinata's heart sank further. So they were together last night. She kept mentally telling herself that she didn't care.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Hinata blurted out before she could stop herself.

Sasuke still focused on the mail. "No."

"But, y-you guys… she said," Hinata just couldn't bring herself to say that they had sex. It just sounded so dirty.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke asked, suddenly interested in the current conversation.

"I-I don't care," Hinata said a little too fast.

"Sure you do. Otherwise you wouldn't have asked."

"Do you love her?" Hinata asked in a whisper. She could never imagine sleeping with someone that she didn't love.

"No," Sasuke replied simply, without even taking any time to think about her question.

"B-but then…"

Sasuke looked at Hinata and walked over to her, standing a few feet away from her as he locked eyes with her.

"I don't believe in love. I believe in needs; needs that satisfy your body and nothing else."

Hinata was speechless. Is this how he thought about life? About love? That's its just a need for the body?

"S-so you d-don't feel anything when you and h-her…" Hinata hated this, but she needed to know.

"No."

All her life, Hinata had believed in true love and that someday she would find her prince charming and he would take her away and live happily ever after…she even started to think that the prince charming could be Sasuke. But she was wrong. How could he love her when he didn't even believe in the meaning of love?

"Feelings and love are useless," Sasuke said as he started walking away when Hinata didn't say anything.

"So you don't believe in love?" Hinata finally spoke.

With his back still facing Hinata, he spoke. "I only believe in needs."

Hinata blinked and whispered. "And I only believe in love."

Sasuke turned around and stared at her. What did she just say? She was wasting her time if she believed in silly fantasies like love. That only happened in fantasies, not real life.

Hinata gracefully walked past him and grabbed her things. It was time for her to go home anyways; Neji was expecting her to make dinner tonight.

Hinata whispered a soft goodbye to Sasuke and left.

* * *

_**One Week Later**_

Hinata walked with Neji silently as they made their way to the restaurant for dinner. Tonight was a pre-celebration dinner for Neji and Tenten's engagement. Neji and Tenten wanted to celebrate with their closest friends first and then announce it to everyone else.

Neji, of course had chosen Hinata to bring along and Tenten had brought along Kiba. Over the years, Tenten had become very close friends with Kiba. Hinata was happy that tonight she could spend time with her friends who loved and cared about her and forget about that selfish jerk, Sasuke.

Hinata had been avoiding any conversation with Sasuke for a week now. She just couldn't understand how he could use a woman like that and how that woman could allow herself to be used. It was disgusting.

"Your quiet tonight," Neji said as he nudged Hinata.

Hinata smiled at Neji. "I'm just tired."

Neji growled. "You spend too much time working for that bastard. Why don't you just quit?"

Hinata sighed. Maybe she should?

"Can we not talk about that tonight? We're here to celebrate your engagement," Hinata said happily as she entered the fancy restaurant and saw Tenten and Kiba already seated at their table.

They made their way to the table and Neji softly kissed Tenten. Hinata was so happy that her cousin found someone so beautiful and sweet as Tenten.

Her mind drifted to Sasuke again. Was everything that he did in life, just a need? Something that needed to be done? Did he look at love as something that was a physical need? What if he was right? What if love is just a physical attraction? People seem to claim their love for each other left and right and in the end, they come to hate one another. Is that what love is?

Suddenly, a hand blocked Hinata's vision and she saw that Kiba was looking at her dumbfoundedly and waving a hand in front of her to get her attention.

"Lost in your own little world again?" Kiba asked amusedly.

"Sorry, I'm just tired," Hinata answered sheepishly.

She looked around and noticed that Neji and Tenten were dancing together. They looked so cute together, like they were meant to be. Tenten was wearing a beautiful traditional red Chinese dress that went all the way to her feet. And Neji looked tremendously handsome in a classic black tuxedo. Hinata herself was wearing a simple light blue summer dress.

Everywhere she looked, love was in the air.

Hinata half-heartedly listened to Kiba rant on about something that happened to him on a vacation trip. Kiba was a close and dear friend, but sometimes Hinata blocked him out because he talked too much and also because she had already heard this story.

Hinata looked around in boredom and suddenly her eyes landed on the person she least expected to see.

Sasuke.

And he was here with the woman from before.

Before Hinata could turn around, Sasuke spotted her and they locked eyes. Hinata quickly looked away from his burning gaze. Why did he have to come here? She was determined to not let him ruin her cousin's celebration dinner. But she couldn't help but wonder what he and that woman were doing? When she was sure that he wasn't looking at her, she slyly looked for him again and found that he was sitting at a table that had a clear view of her. He was looking at her, while the woman sat beside him and whispered in his ear and giggled.

Hinata watched as the woman touched him and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Kiba, would you like to dance?" Hinata asked the boy sitting next to her unexpectedly.

Kiba smiled. "Sure, but I thought you said you were too tired."

Hinata didn't answer and got up from her seat and made her way to the dance floor. She held onto Kiba closely and rested her head on his shoulder. Every two seconds she would glance over to Sasuke, who was still looking at her, while touching the woman seductively. He was doing it on purpose to bother her. He knew that she thought it was disgusting to sleep with someone you didn't love and he was flaunting his wench in front of her.

Once the song ended, Hinata thanked Kiba and told him that she needed fresh air and made her way to the balcony. Once she was out there, the nice cool air hit her body and she was feeling more relaxed. She was about to leave when someone else joined her on the balcony.

Hinata turned around and avoided his gaze. "What are you doing out here?"

"I needed some air," Sasuke said smoothly. He had noticed that ever since Hinata had met Reiyuku, she had been acting weird.

"umm, well, if you'll excuse me," Hinata said softly as she walked past Sasuke.

Sasuke wanted to know why she was acting so different towards him ever since last week. He quickly grabbed her wrist and stopped her in her tracks.

"W-what the..?" Hinata gasped.

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke said as continued to keep his grip on Hinata's wrist.

Hinata looked around, hoping that no one would see them. She tried to free her wrist but he was much stronger then her.

"I-I don't know w-what your talking about. Please let go of me."

"You've changed. Why?"

Hinata struggled against his hold. "I-I haven't ch-changed."

Sasuke refused to let go of her until she gave him a straight answer. Hinata had been ignoring him all week and he wanted to know why.

"Shouldn't y-you go b-back to your d-date?"

Sasuke suddenly let go of Hinata's wrist and she could see a hint of amusement on his face. Hinata pulled back from Sasuke and rubbed the area where he held her so tightly.

"Your jealous of her?" Sasuke pointed out with a confident smirk.

Hinata shook her head horizontally. "N-no. Why would I be?"

Sasuke stepped closer. "You tell me."

"I don't c-care about what y-you and that woman do."

"But it seems like you do," he said smoothly. Little Hinata was jealous of that conniving wench? He never thought he would see the day.

Hinata turned away from Sasuke, so that he wouldn't see the emotions running on her face.

"I don't," Hinata whispered, trying to reassure herself more then Sasuke.

"Tell me the truth," Sasuke urged forward.

Hinata couldn't take it, it was eating her up inside. This past week had been horrible. She felt so depressed and she couldn't sleep at night because she was thinking about what Sasuke and that woman were doing.

"I do care," she whispered so softly that Sasuke needed to strain to hear anything. "I care because…" Hinata closed her eyes. It was now or never. "I like you."

Hinata felt so relieved too get that off her chest. She didn't want to make the same mistake as she did with Naruto. She knew that what she felt for him wasn't love. It couldn't be love, but it was something and she didn't know any other way to say it. But she felt so embarrassed because she knew that he didn't feel the same way as her.

"You like me?" Sasuke asked as he raised his brow. "How can you like me when your scared of me?"

Sasuke knew why she stuttered. He could see it in her face and her body language, she was defiantly afraid of him.

Hinata breathed in. "I'm n-not scared of you." She was lying. Everything about him scared her.

Sasuke stepped closer to Hinata, while her back was still facing him. He pressed himself close to Hinata and chuckled when he heard her gasp. He took his hand and ran it across Hinata's bare shoulder. He glided his palm over her chest, feeling her soft skin while holding her in a possesive grip with his other arm.

He whispered in her ear. "You're scared now."

Hinata's breathing pattern quickened as she felt something tingle all over her body. Why did this feeling only happen when she was with him? She wasn't allowed to like him or his touch or anything affiliated with him. He didn't love her, she knew that. He said it himself that love was useless. He only used woman.

Hinata suddenly snapped out of the spell he put on her when she realized that touching her like this was probably a _need _for him. It wasn't because he loved her, or because he felt something when he was with her… It was something that he needed to do and Hinata could never live with herself if she allowed him to turn her into an object for him to use.

She quickly escaped from his warm clutches and headed towards the balcony exit to get back to her cousin and friends. As she hurriedly ran back into the restaurant she bumped into someone.

Neji.

"What are you doing out here, Hinata?" Neji asked in concern. He held onto Hinata and could feel her shaking. He looked up from the frightened girl and saw Sasuke standing there in the shadows.

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

* * *

**AN: **I just wanted to apologize for the lack of humor, but at least there was some romance, right? Anyways, I'm sorry for my horrible, horrible grammar. If anyone out there wants to be my beta-reader, I would be so happy! Come on... You know you want to... _nudge_ _nudge ... _Yeah this chapter was kind of dark, but my life is kind of in a rut right now, so I guess that reflects in my work. And if you view my profile, under **_Story Status, _**I sometimes put up a preview of the next chapter! Happy Reading!

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**_Please Review_**

* * *

TBC 


	8. Chapter VIII

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**_Chapter VIII_**

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"What are you doing out here, Hinata?" Neji asked in concern. He held onto Hinata and could feel her shaking and trembling. She refused to look him in the eye. What could have caused her to become so scared? 

He looked up from the frightened girl and saw Sasuke standing there in the shadows. He was leaning casually against the railing, with his hands in his pockets, looking guilty as hell.

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

Before Sasuke could retort, Neji rapidly charged towards the dark-haired boy and punched him square in the face. The impact of the hit caused Sasuke to stumble back and he tried to hold his balance. Blood trickled down from the corner of Sasuke's mouth.

"Neji, stop," Hinata yelled, though her voice hardly reached his ears.

Neji jumped in for another punch but Sasuke was now ready and dodged his attacks.

_Punch_…_kick_…_block_…_kick_…_jump_… _punch_… _block_.

Both were fighting hand to hand combat, otherwise known as Taijutsu. Neji had to refrain from using his Gentle-Fist technique because even though Sasuke was a bastard, he didn't want to completely kill him. He only wanted to teach him a lesson of what happens when people mess with his cousin.

Neither of them activated their bloodline traits. This was not a fight between two ninja's, but between two men.

The commotion of the fight caused many people from the restaurant to come outside and observe what was going on. Tenten and Kiba were also amongst those people because Hinata had ran inside to find the two so they could help her stop Neji. Both Kiba and Tenten tried to call out to Neji to stop him, but Neji wouldn't hear any of their pleas. Hinata repeatedly called for Neji to stop, but her pathetic cries were ignored and she was held tightly back by Tenten.

"How dare you think you could fucking mess around with Hinata, you bastard," Neji said as he once again punched Sasuke in the face. More blood dripped down Sasuke's chin from the second blow and he tumbled against the railing. His breathing got heavier.

"I'll kill you before I let you put another hand on her."

Sasuke remained silent while tried to avoid every punch and kick that Neji threw, but the ANBU Captain was much too fast for Sasuke, especially after he just got thrown against the balcony wall and railing. It was not like he was facing an ordinary person; Neji was also considered a prodigy like him, and he was much more experienced in simple Taijutsu.

However, Sasuke was also not giving one hundred percent of himself into the fight. He deserved every punch in the face and every kick in the stomach. He had been playing with Hinata and if anyone deserved to be beaten to a pulp, it was him. Hinata was much too innocent to be corrupted by the likes of him. If he saw any other man treating her so badly, he would've reacted the same way.

Neji punched Sasuke in the stomach once again. Sasuke groaned as he hit the ground hard. Sasuke lay on the ground unmoving and Neji hovered over him. He grabbed Sasuke by the collar and lifted him up roughly and threw him back. Sasuke tried to stay steady on his feet, but he could feel himself falling any second now.

Neji stared at him in disgust. "You're pathetic, you motherfu--"

Before Neji could finish his insult, Sasuke ran towards the white-eyed prodigy in full speed and speared him in the stomach. Neji fell backwards onto the balcony railing. Red eyes stared at him.

Hinata and Tenten screamed as they watched Neji fall back.

"Don't say anything about my mother," Sasuke sneered angrily.

Neji quickly recovered as he stood up on his feet and panted heavily. At least now he got a reaction out of the stoic boy. Before it was like hitting a lifeless punching bag and now he would enjoy beating the shit out of him.

Neji provoked him further. "Why? She's the one who gave birth to a dog like you. So what does that make her?"

Sasuke could bear Neji insulting him in any shape or form. He could call him a bastard, asshole, jerk - he knew he deserved to be called those names. But he would never allow anyone to say anything about his late mother. That was going too far.

Before Sasuke could register any logic or reason in his mind, he started forming the chidori in his right hand. Blue and white light started emerging from his palm and everyone around the two men could feel the heat from the Uchiha.

Hinata had seen Sasuke use the chidori once in her life before. That was at the Chunnin exam when she went to go cheer for her cousin. It was a very dangerous and powerful attack and if he successfully used it, the attack could possibly kill her cousin.

Hinata watched as Sasuke collected more energy in his hand. He could strike at any moment and kill Neji and it would be because of her. Neji had been protecting her. If anything happened to him, she would never let herself live it down. She needed to stop Sasuke… fast.

Hinata broke through the restraint Tenten put on her and ran in between her cousin and Sasuke. She stood in front Neji, protecting him from Sasuke's vision.

"Sasuke stop," she said weakly, but it didn't look like he was listening.

"Hinata get out of the way," Neji said as he grabbed her.

Hinata shook her head and latched herself to her cousin in a hug. She buried her head into his chest.

"No. I'm not going to let him hurt you."

Tears rolled down Hinata's cheeks as she clenched onto Neji's shirt. She turned her head towards Sasuke and saw that his eyes were flaming red and that he was looking right towards them. Her eyes locked with his; she pleaded with her eyes, hoping that he would stop. He didn't.

"Please Sasuke. Stop," Hinata choked out. If he was going to strike, he would have hit her also. She would not let Neji die alone.

"Please…"

Sasuke stood still, his chidori slowly fading away and his eyes turning back to normal. He had never seen such devotion before. Hinata was willing to die for her cousin? How could she be so fearless… so selfless?

Why wasn't there someone here to risk their life for him?

Hinata blinked a couple of times as she heard the chidori slowly fizzle away into nothing. She still couldn't believe that Sasuke had calmed down and that they were safe from the deadly attack. She had never seen so much energy accumulated in one area before and was amazed by Sasuke's potential.

Hinata was still holding on to Neji as they both stood there in silence.

"Are you okay?" Neji asked gently.

"Yes. But its you we should be worried about," Hinata said as she let go of Neji and starting examining his wounds, although she had to admit that he looked in far better shape then Sasuke. Soon, Tenten and Kiba joined the two cousins and they also started fussing over Neji.

The crowd started dispersing slowly and Sasuke was left alone. No one was there to help him up or to even comfort him. He had no idea where Reiyuku (the girl he has been seen with before) had run off to. Not that he cared. That woman only cared for herself and when she saw that he was fighting against Neji, she probably ran towards safety.

She would never stand before danger for him like Hinata had for Neji.

Hinata discreetly glanced over to Sasuke and watched as he stood their lonely and forgotten. She wanted to help him, but she couldn't. She felt wretched for leaving him there when it was obvious that he was hurt the most, but she wouldn't dare leave her cousin's side for him. Neji was far more important to her then he was.

Sasuke watched as Hinata fussed over Neji's minor injuries. Wasn't he the one who was being pummeled to death? He couldn't even stand up properly and Neji was getting all the attention?

He continued to stare at them as the four walked past him. Neji, Tenten and Kiba glared at him and muttered curses under their breaths. And then there was Hinata. She simply looked at him with sadness and grief. He knew that she wanted to reach out to him, but she couldn't.

Why should she?

Its not like he was the nicest person to her. He deserved to be ignored by her.

But he couldn't help but hope that maybe somewhere out there, there was someone who would run in and protect him for a change, he was tired of protecting himself all the time.

* * *

Hinata hesitantly walked up to a familiar doorstep. She was a carrying a bag of medical supplies that she hoped she would not have to use. 

It had been exactly two days since the fight at the restaurant. Neji forbid her from going back to work for him and Hinata had no choice but to agree. Hinata herself agreed that it was too dangerous to go back to that house and be completely alone with him. Neji was the only family she had left and she wouldn't lose him over something so trivial. He was only looking out for her.

So then why was she standing on Sasuke's front porch?

Neji was out on ANBU business and Hinata still couldn't forget the way Sasuke looked after Neji got through with him. It was a terrible sight. His blood was everywhere and it looked like he broke many bones. She had wanted to help him out that night, but she was unable to because of the circumstances they were under. At that time she could only think about her cousin.

But right now all she could think about was Sasuke.

She knocked on the door and waited patiently until someone abruptly opened the door.

She gazed into cold, onyx eyes.

He stared hard at her. "What do you want?"

"I-I just wanted to m-make sure you were okay," Hinata replied meekly as she fiddled with the bag in her hand.

"You didn't care that night, why now?" He asked sternly.

Hinata lowered her head and stared at her feet. She already felt bad about leaving him out on the balcony injured that night, it wasn't because she didn't care, but because her hands were tied.

"I d-do care. Please, can I come in?"

Sasuke blankly stared at her for a moment before he moved aside and let her pass through. She smoothly walked into the living room and placed her bag on the couch. She turned around to face Sasuke, who was walking behind her and observed him.

It looked like someone took care of most of his injuries, much to Hinata's relief. He had a few scrapes and bruises along his chin, lips and eyes, his arm was bandaged up and from the way he walked, it looked like his ribs were also bandaged up.

"I'm sorry about what Neji did to you," Hinata said in a quiet voice.

Sasuke shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I deserved it."

Hinata couldn't argue with that. He did deserve it, but not to the extent that her cousin put on Sasuke. Neji and Sasuke were very much alike when she thought about it. They were both quiet, stubborn, reserved and very quick to anger.

"Do they hurt a lot? I m-mean your injuries."

"No."

Hinata looked at Sasuke and could easily tell that he was lying. It had only been two days after the fight and his wounds couldn't have possibly healed that quickly.

"Why did you do it?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

Hinata blinked. "Do what?"

"Protect Neji," Sasuke said grimly as he walked over the couch and took a seat.

Hinata looked over to Sasuke and smiled. "Because that's w-what you do for people you love."

Sasuke didn't say anything after that and they were both engulfed by silence. Hinata stood at the foot of the couch and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

Maybe coming here was a bad idea. She just wanted to see if he was doing okay.

"Is there a-anything I can d-do to help?"

Sasuke thought about her offer for a moment. He was feeling very stiff from the fight and no one else was around to do it and he wouldn't dare to ask any of his fan-girls to do what he had in mind.

"My neck hurts," he stated plainly.

Hinata waited for him to continue.

"Can you give me a massage?"

Hinata froze. Give him a massage? But that would require physical touching and she didn't think that was such a smart idea.

"I-I don't t-think that's a g-good idea," Hinata said as she suddenly felt more nervous around him then before. The room became very small.

"Why not? It was your cousin who beat me. It's the least you can do."

Why did he always need to make people feel worse then they already felt? Its not like she planned any of what happened that night before hand.

Hinata sighed and hesitantly moved behind Sasuke, who was already sitting on the couch.

"I-I'm not very g-good," Hinata said nervously and could feel her breathing pattern quicken.

Sasuke didn't respond and waited for her to start.

Hinata gulped as she figured out how she would begin. Just the thought of touching him was causing her to go red and feel tingly all over. She placed her hands lightly on his shoulders and she felt him instantly tense up from her touch. This caused Hinata to feel even more nervous. She was really hoping to not mess things up.

She started working on his knots and applied more pressure when he became more relaxed under her touch. She could feel his muscles under his shirt as she worked her way across his shoulder blades. All that training really paid off. Hinata tried not to think of this as she worked on him.

Think of anything else… shoes… chocolate cake… puppies…. Think happy thoughts… One happy thought would be massaging Sasuke without his shirt on.

Hinata blushed. She should not be thinking such things.

She noticed how tight his neck really was and that he wasn't lying when he complained that he felt stiff. Hinata felt happy that she could be of some use to him after what Neji did to him.

Sasuke had to admit that Hinata was doing a good job. After they both got over the first-time-touching awkward moment, he began to relax. Her slender fingers targeted every single trouble spot and he was feeling more comfortable.

They both stayed silent as they kept to their own private thoughts.

"You can stop now," Sasuke suddenly announced.

"Huh? Oh, umm," Hinata stumbled as she quickly removed her hands from his shoulders. Her hands suddenly felt cold without the warmth from his body.

Before Sasuke could say anything, Hinata spoke.

"I-I have to go," she said softly.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he watched her quickly pick up her bag and scurry out of the room, but not before she turned around and smiled at him.

Sasuke didn't smile back at her, but she kept smiling.

Strange girl.

* * *

Hinata and Tenten sat on bar stools as they waited for another round of drinks to come their way. Neji was still away on ANBU business and Tenten was bored and insisted that Hinata come join her for a couple of drinks. 

This was Hinata's first time being in a bar and her first time ever drinking. Alcohol did not suit Hinata well. Normally, she would have declined Tenten's offer, but Hinata wanted to experience something new and felt like going out, hoping to forget a certain someone. Sitting at home and moping around, dreaming about him, wasn't very fun. She was feeling depressed and lonely and decided to venture out.

"If youuurr cousin tinks that I'm -_hic_- going plan thiss whole wedding by myself, thens he's got anotherrr -_hic_- thing coming," Tenten said as wailed her hands around to make her point.

Hinata, who only had one drink, was not one who could manage her alcohol consumption well and was also feeling a bit tipsy.

"He's away -_hic_- on damn ninja business again."

"At least you've got someone who loves you," Hinata said quietly as she took another sip from her drink.

She was thinking about him _again_...

She couldn't hear Tenten too clearly over the noise in the rowdy bar.

"Are jou talking about that Uchiha guy?" Tenten asked as she stared at Hinata with a confused expression on her face. "I personally thinks he's gay and he runs around with dat -_hic_- hussy to prooove he's not, er gay."

Hinata thought about that for a moment but shook her head as an attempt to clear her mind. Sasuke was not homosexual. He couldn't be! If he was then she had been wasting all that time daydreaming about him.

"Oh myyyyyyy gosh! Look its Leeeeeeee! I haven't seen him -_hic_- in like forever," Tenten screamed as she made her way to green-spandex wearing boy, leaving Hinata alone for the moment.

Hinata turned around and watched as Tenten put Lee into a giant bear hug. Tenten sure was a happy drunk. Beyond Tenten and Lee was something that seemed familiar to Hinata. It couldn't be him. Was he following her now? She squinted her eyes in an attempt to see better, which of course, never works.

Feeling a bit confident, probably because of the effect that the alcohol was having on her, she made her way to the lone figure sitting at a back table. She reached up to him and put both of her hands onto the table as she tried to maintain her balance.

"Are you following me now?" Hinata asked bitterly.

Sasuke looked up and saw a very drunk Hinata standing before him who was almost on the verge of keeling over. Her cheeks had a very pink hue on them... they were rosy. There were only a few selected bars that were open so late at night in such as small town as Konoha, but he never imagined bumping into Hinata at a place like this.

"No."

"Good," Hinata said in fake anger. She started looking around the room, as if trying to search for someone.

"So where's the hussy tonight?" The affect of alcohol was not good on Hinata. She would have never used such a word had she not been under the influence.

Sasuke chose to ignore her question and continued to sip his drink calmly. What in the world possessed her to drink? It was something that didn't suit her image too well.

"You know herrr breasts are fake. Its impossible to have such large ones," Hinata said absentmindedly. Sasuke listened quietly to her gibberish.

"I mean how can she walk with those?" Hinata scratched her head. "I wish she was herre so I could feel em and see if they really are real."

Hinata leaned in closer to Sasuke and whispered. "Is that why you like her so much?"

Sasuke stood up from his chair and grabbed Hinata by the arm and dragged her through the crowd and towards the exit.

"Lets go. I'll drop you off home," he said in a monotone voice.

"No," Hinata said as she tried to pry off Sasuke's hand from her arm. "I wanna stay."

"Too bad. You're going home."

Sasuke hauled Hinata out of the bar forcefully. Tenten was too busy arguing over who fought better while being drunk with Lee to notice Hinata's absence. Sasuke walked down the empty, dark streets while dragging a drunk, aggressive and very loud girl all the way back to her apartment. He couldn't believe that Neji even allowed Hinata to enter a bar after the protective hold he had on her.

They made their way into the building complex and walked up to her apartment door. Hinata lazily leaned against the door frame.

"You want to come in? Neji's not home," she said as she giggled.

So that would explain her presence in a bar and why she was drunk. Neji would never allow her to go to a bar or be anywhere near liquor.

Hinata stumbled with getting the keys out of her bag and Sasuke quickly grabbed her purse and fished out the keys. He opened the door and Hinata grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

"Where's your room?" He asked in annoyance.

Hinata pointed towards the first door on the right in the hallway. Sasuke felt some type of moral obligation to make sure that she was safely tucked into bed before he left. If he went through the trouble of making sure she got home, might as well make sure she's tucked into bed.

He grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled the girl towards her room. They stepped into the room and he turned on the lights. He walked over to the bed but before Sasuke could tell her to get into bed and go to sleep Hinata pulled the unsuspecting boy under herself and laid on top of him.

She pressed her cool forehead against his and her long indigo locks flowed around them. Her chest was heavily pressed against his and her legs tangled into his.

She looked straight into his eyes- without any fear, anxiety or hate.

Tonight it was only him and her.

She breathed in slowly. Both of them could feel the other person's hot breath play on their face. Time seemed to stop.

"Why?" she whispered so softly as she closed her eyes. "Why can't you care about me as much as I care about you?"

Sasuke couldn't answer that question even if he wanted to. He had convinced himself that feelings were nothing and that they only interfered with reason and what really mattered in life. He was not going to let some little, meek girl erupt nonsense and unwanted _feelings_ within him. He hastily pushed her aside, trying to get away from Hinata as fast as possible. He jumped off the bed and stood up. Hinata quickly recovered from the shove and grabbed his hand, while his back was facing her. Both her soft, petite hands covered Sasuke's rough, calloused hand.

"Please don't go. Please stay with me," she quietly pleaded, hoping that he wouldn't leave her alone.

But she was left hoping.

"No," Sasuke said as he wrenched out of her grip and left the room.

* * *

**A/N:** I just wanted to clear some things up. 1) Hinata is NOT a ninja in this story, she wants to become a doctor. But everyone knew that, right? 2) Hinata and Sasuke are going to be seventeen in this story, because the idea of twelve year olds doing all this stuff freaks me out. 3) I know it seems weird for Hinata to be drunk, but she's young and depressed and everyone has been drunk once in their life, right? _wink_ _wink _This story is partially AU! Please remember that!

* * *

**_Please Review_**

* * *

TBC 


	9. Chapter IX

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* * *

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**_Chapter IX_**

* * *

Hinata pulled a strand of hair behind her ear as she quietly walked down the gray street towards the hospital. It was a wonderful summer morning, with a beautiful bright, cloudless, blue sky and the sun shining magnificently. 

Even with the beautiful atmosphere around her, Hinata felt a bit depressed.

After Neji had returned from his mission, he pulled some strings and got her a job as an assistant nurse at Konoha hospital. It worked out well for her in terms of her future career plans, but she had to admit that she felt a bit sad knowing that she wouldn't get to see _him_ everyday.

Actually, it had been a couple of weeks since she had last seen him. Nobody really knew what happened to him or where he went; he just suddenly disappeared. The last time she vaguely remembered running into him was that night at the bar. Hinata blushed. After that night she swore off ever drinking again; she could not hold her alcohol well. She couldn't even remember what happened that night; only bits and pieces. The next morning she found herself in her bed with a huge hangover. Who knows what she said to him that night. Was that the reason that he suddenly disappeared?

Hinata closed her eyes and shook her head. It couldn't have possibly been because of her.

It didn't matter anyways. Nothing that she could have said would have had any effect on him; he didn't care about her. Why did she always fall for the ones who didn't even look towards her direction?

Hinata had convinced herself that it was a good thing that he was gone now. Nothing good could of come out of them being together. There would be too many people against them and its not like he liked her anyways.

Everything was just fine the way it was.

Hinata walked up to large white building and scanned her badge so she could make her way into the staff room. She enjoyed working at the hospital and with school coming up soon, Tsunade said her hours would accommodate with her school schedule, which was a very good thing for her.

She put away her stuff in her locker and was about to leave the room to carry on with her normal duties when she suddenly ran into someone.

"Hinata! Just the girl I wanted to see," Tsunade said as she grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders.

Hinata smiled faintly and greeted the older woman before asking, "what for?"

"There's a patient in room 5B that needs to be cleaned. Could you please attend to him before I come and check up on him?"

"Sure," Hinata said softly and headed out the corridor towards the room. Working at the hospital always kept her mind off of Sasuke. There was always something that kept her busy.

Hinata stood in front of the door and opened it softly but paused for a moment when she heard familiar voices.

"I told you not to bring me here."

"You're bleeding, where else am I suppose to take you?"

Hinata knew those voices.

"I hate hospitals," responded someone in a dark, mellow voice.

Hinata gasped. It couldn't be him! _Please don't let it be him_… _Please don't let it be him_… _Please don't let it be him_… Hinata chanted repeatedly in her head. Should she go in or should she just run away? A part of her was so happy to hear that voice, but another part of her was scared knowing that she would have to look into those mesmerizing eyes once again.

But before she could make a decision, the door swung open to reveal a blue-eyed, blond hair boy staring right at her.

"Hinata?"

Hinata blinked and blushed. "H-hi."

Naruto scratched his head and made a confused a face. "You work here?"

Hinata nodded her head and walked further into the room. Naruto closed the door behind them and Hinata looked over to Sasuke, who was sitting on the bed. He looked like he was in pretty bad shape. She gently greeted him, but as expected he didn't say anything back to her, only nodded at her.

"Now, how can you hate hospitals when such cute girls like Hinata work here?" Naruto said loudly as put an arm around the smaller girl and smiled brightly. Hinata blushed at their close proximity.

Sasuke growled. "Get out."

Had this been anyone other then Naruto, they would have noticed the hatred oozing out of Sasuke's words. A hint of jealousy, maybe?

"That's no way to talk to a girl, Sasuke," Naruto said, with his arm still around Hinata.

"I wasn't talking to her, I was talking to you. Get out," Sasuke said in a more angry tone of voice. Hinata noticed that something in his voice sounded like he was jealous of Naruto, but she was probably just imagining things.

"So that's how its going to be, huh?" Naruto said, faking anger. "See if I ever save your life again."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto quickly made his way towards the door.

"Bye Hinata! Its always nice to see you and don't let the jerk get to you," Naruto said as he winked at her before he left, which caused Hinata's face to turn redder then it was before.

Sasuke and Hinata were left alone and she nervously fiddled with his file in her hand.

"Ah, I'm suppose to get you cleaned up before Tsunade sees you," Hinata softly as she placed the file on the counter and grabbed a couple of towels and soaked them with warm water. She also pulled out a hospital gown from one of the cabinets. She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way around the room.

She walked towards Sasuke and gulped. She had done this a million times. There was no reason to get so nervous. She was a professional.

"I n-need you to t-take your shirt off," Hinata said nervously. There was no need to get so anxious, she had seen a million men without their clothes on in class... well, in books.

Sasuke mumbled something, but took off his shirt nonetheless. Hinata winced at the cuts and gashes on his body. What could have happened?

Hinata softly cleaned off the blood from his back.

"How did this happen?" Hinata asked meekly.

"Mission," answered Sasuke plainly and coldly. Looks like he didn't want to talk about it.

So that would explain why she hadn't seen him in weeks. Probably a secret operation. Why was Sasuke so quiet? Usually he would say at least a couple of words, but today he seemed like he was angry at her.

She continued cleaning his back in silence, but in her mind she was constantly debating with herself. She wanted to ask him if she said anything stupid that night that made him act so cold towards her, since that was the last time she saw him. Sasuke wasn't the social type, but they used to have semi-conversations before.

She should've just ignored it, but her curiosity got the best of her.

"A-ah that night at t-the bar," Hinata spoke cautiously, "did anything happen?"

Sasuke eyed her warily before he replied.

"No."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. But then that didn't explain why he was acting the way he was and his one-word answers were annoying. She just couldn't figure him out. Even after Neji ruthlessly beat him and she went to go see him at his house afterwards, he was still some-what friendly towards her. She even thought that they had a moment or two that day, so then what happened?

"Is there something wrong?" Hinata asked uneasily.

Sasuke once again answered with one word, "no."

Would it kill him to get more then one word out of his mouth?

Hinata finished cleaning up his back and moved towards the sink the get a new towel. She then moved onto the task of cleaning the few scraps and cuts that were present on his chest. She stood carefully in between his legs and applied the same procedure and cleaned his cuts.

They once again sat in silence.

She couldn't take the stillness anymore. It was awkward and annoying, especially since she didn't know why he was ignoring her.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Sasuke stared at her blankly, but didn't say anything.

Hinata probed forward when he didn't say anything. She avoided looking at his face and continued to focus at the task at hand.

"I m-mean its been s-so long since I've seen you a-and now you're acting l-like like…," Hinata couldn't figure out what to say next. He was so distant.

Sasuke stared hard at the girl standing before him. "Like what?"

Hinata looked at him shyly.

"Like you don't know me," she whispered quietly.

Sasuke registered her words in his head. That night at Hinata's apartment had caused something to rise in Sasuke and he was afraid of getting too attached to someone. The last thing he needed was a girl in his life. After that night, he decided to stay as far away from her as possible, but fate once again brought them together.

"I can tell when you're not happy," Hinata said, as she interrupted his thoughts.

Sasuke stared at her in confusion and for a moment he was rendered speechless. What did she mean by that? However, soon enough, he returned back into his haughty self and the corner of his lips twitched slightly into an arrogant smirk.

"How would you know?"

"Your smile doesn't reach your eyes," she said carefully. Although Hinata knew that he hardly ever smiled, she had seen those rare times when he would genuinely smile. And right now, she knew he was putting up an act.

Sasuke stared at her wordlessly for a few seconds before suddenly reaching out and grabbing Hinata's wrist. The frightened girl stopped what she was doing and looked up to stare into a pair of dark onyx eyes, each filled with mixed emotions gazing down at her.

"You don't want to get close to me," he said in a deep, monotone voice, while still holding onto her wrist.

Hinata wanted to say something, anything… but she just couldn't get her mouth to function. Even if she could speak, what would she say anyways?

With his face only a few inches away from hers, Hinata felt like she was frozen. Her heart was beating fast and she was too afraid to even breath.

"Don't get too close to me, otherwise you'll regret it," he said before he let go of her hand.

Shocked and confused, Hinata stood in silence.

Unexpectedly, there was a knock on the door and Tsunade entered into the room. Both Sasuke and Hinata stared at the blond, older woman as she walked towards the two teenagers. The experienced doctor could feel the tension in the air.

"Are you finished?" Tsunade asked Hinata, ignoring the obvious tension between the two for the moment.

"Y-yes," Hinata stammered as she collected the soiled towels and walked towards the sink. She quickly cleaned up the area and put all the supplies back before she stepped out of the room.

Once outside of the room she let out a sigh of relief. She was so glad that Tsunade walked in when she did, otherwise she wouldn't have known what to do. His voice had been so scary, so threatening, yet so sad.

What was it that scared him to let anyone come close to him?

She would find out.

**

* * *

**Sasuke had been more then angry when he found out that he would have to stay in the hospital over night. He didn't think his injuries were really that serious. The more he hated hospitals, the more he had to spend time in one. 

He didn't even have anything to do except sleep and stare at the four white walls of the hospital room. As he sat motionlessly on the bed, his mind wandered back to what he said to Hinata. It was the right thing to do. He didn't want her getting involved in his life and she was starting to get to close too him and he had to do something about it. He didn't need her pity or any sympathy from anyone. He didn't need love, feelings or anything like that in his life.

He needed to get her out of his head. He needed to screw someone.

Bah. Why was he even thinking about her?

He hated the way she cared for him. He hated the way she looked at him. He hated the way she smiled at him. He hated the way she could be so optimistic and nice all the time. But, even though he hated so many things about her, he just couldn't find it in himself to hate _her_.

Sasuke closed his eyes and laid back on his white, fluffy pillow. In his mind, he could imagine her shyly smiling at him, with that genuine sense of happiness and for some reason unknown to him, after a long time, he could actually feel himself smiling back at her.

Sitting alone in his hospital bed, he realized that a smile had actually crept across his face, one that showed even in those dark, cold eyes of his.

Hearing a knock at the door, Sasuke immediately opened his eyes and saw as the girl that he was daydreaming about poked her head through the door. Didn't he tell her a few hours ago to stay away from him? She always found some way to be around him.

She walked in quietly until she reached his bed.

"I b-brought you dinner," she said softly and gave him that smile he hated.

Sasuke simply nodded and took the tray from her hand and she put a book that she was holding onto the bed and readjusted the tray holder from the side of the bed.

"Are you feeling better?" Hinata asked as she stood at the foot of the bed.

"Yes," Sasuke answered as he took a sip of his juice.

Hinata pushed back a strand of hair from her face. "Is there anything that you need?"

"I'm bored," he stated plainly.

"Well, umm, there isn't really much to do in a hospital," Hinata answered meekly, unsure of what else she could say. There honestly wasn't anything interesting to do in a hospital.

Sasuke didn't say anything and continued to pick through his food. Hinata was about to leave when Sasuke suddenly picked up the book that was laying on his side and flipped through it.

"What's this?"

Hinata glanced his way and saw the book that he was holding. She can't believe she almost forgot her Medical Prep book. She was starting school in a couple weeks and needed to review over old material for her entrance exam.

"It's just a medical prep book," Hinata replied while making her way once again towards his bed. She was going to go home and spend a few hours going through it.

Sasuke read over a few pages.

"Questions seem simple enough," he said arrogantly.

Of course Sasuke would say that. He was born a genius, but other people like Hinata had to work hard for their achievements.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Hinata said calmly, although she felt a little offended by the comment.

"Really now," Sasuke said, suddenly feeling a bit more happy, knowing that he would have some type of entertainment for a while. Boredom could really drive a person crazy.

"Lets play a game then."

Hinata eyed Sasuke suspiciously. "What kind of game?"

"Trivia game, except with a twist," Sasuke said as he straightened up in the bed.

Hinata didn't say anything as she waited for him to continue.

"We'll ask each other questions from the book and whenever one of us gets one wrong, a piece of clothing comes off. Kind of like strip poker."

Hinata gasped and blushed at such an idea. Strip trivia? She could never play such a discomforting game. She would die of embarrassment.

Sasuke smirked at her reaction. Just as he expected, she would be too scared to play such a game. Oh well, the reaction was amusing enough.

"I-I don't t-think I-I," Hinata couldn't even finish her sentence properly.

"It's a win-win situation," Sasuke probed on, "you'll get to study and I won't be bored."

Hinata shook her head. No way. Nope. Never. She would never make herself go through something like that. No way, no how.

"I-I can't," Hinata said nervously.

"Of course you can't," Sasuke sighed. "You're always scared of everything."

So what if she was scared? Hinata bet that a lot of girls would be scared of taking off their clothes in front of a guy because of a game. It was normal, wasn't it?

"If your not going to play, go away," Sasuke said angrily. She was his only chance of entertainment in this God forsaken hospital and now he would have nothing to do and he didn't think going over questions with her was exciting without the striping part. Its not like he would go as far as to let her stand naked before him. He wasn't a pig.

Hinata silently made her way towards the room's exit…

Sasuke was sure that she was about to leave when he heard the door lock.

Sasuke watched as Hinata walked towards him nervously; her face glowing like Rudolph's red nose.

"Ah, we w-wouldn't want anyone to walk in o-on us," she said meekly.

So she did want to play the game. This would be interesting.

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**A/N:** For any information about the story, please visit my profile page, under _**Story**_ **_Status_**. Thanks!

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	10. Chapter X

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**_Chapter X_**

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"Ah, we w-wouldn't want anyone to walk in o-on us," Hinata said meekly as she cautiously walked towards the bed, twiddling her fingers and looking down at the floor. 

Her actions surprised the both of them.

What was she doing? What was she thinking?

Hinata told herself that she wasn't going to get roped into his insanity… his stupidly… but here she was, standing at the foot of his bed, locked in a hospital room with _him_. She had convinced herself that life was good without him and that everything was much less complicated without him messing with her head. She could've just walked away, but she didn't.

Why didn't she walk out that door? She was standing right in front of it too, but then she had to go and do something totally unpredictable and not to mention stupid. She locked the door, even though she knew she was walking into a death trap.

Her brain kept telling her to walk out that door, but another part of her kept yelling that this was the only way she could spend more time with him. Sure, she didn't like the situation or the consequences she would have to pay later, but the only thing she could think of was that she would be spending time with Sasuke. She would get to spend some time alone with Sasuke. That was such a silly excuse, but it was the only one she had.

Those were the annoying repercussions of having a crush on someone. You would do anything and give everything just to be with them.

Even if it meant playing a ridiculous game of "strip trivia!"

Sasuke, on the other hand, who was sitting on his bed with the blanket over the half of his body, was still trying to understand Hinata's sudden interest in playing the game. He had really believed that she was going to walk out on him when she headed towards the door, but locking it and coming back was something so out of character for her that Sasuke was speechless for a few moments. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as he thought she was.

Was there more to the girl then he initially sought out or maybe she just didn't understand what she was getting herself into?

Either way, he was going to have some fun.

"So, you want to play then?" Sasuke asked the shy girl suspiciously.

Hinata being too nervous to speak, simply nodded her head in agreement, all the while, mentally telling herself to back out of this while she still had the chance. Why couldn't she get herself to move towards the door?

"Being the gentleman that I am, I'll let you ask the first question," Sasuke said as he extended the book towards Hinata.

Hinata inched forward and removed the book from his hand.

"Ah, I c-can ask any question from the book," Hinata asked in a soft tone, her voice a little shaky because she felt so uneasy.

"Yes."

Hinata flipped through the book randomly, not knowing what question she should ask. She stopped at an arbitrary page and read the first question written on it. She was a bit worried thinking that the question might be a bit tough for him, but the again, it was his idea and if he got it wrong, it was his own fault.

Hinata read the question out loud. "How is flutamide excreted?"

Sasuke thought about the question for a moment and then grinned.

"Easy," he said as he folded his arms. "Flutamide is primarily excreted in the urine."

Shocked and surprised, Hinata flipped to the back of the book and looked for the answer.

He was right. He was actually one hundred percent right.

"H-how did you know?" Hinata asked, still surprised that he knew the correct answer. If he wasn't a medical student, then how would he know? A normal person wouldn't have known the answer.

"I know everything," Sasuke responded arrogantly. "Pass me the book, its my turn to ask."

Chewing on the bottom of her lip, she carefully handed the book to Sasuke. Hinata prayed and hoped that she would get an easy question. She wasn't able to study as much as she wanted this summer and she hoped that she remembered something from last year. _Please let me get through this game, _Hinata chanted in her head.

Sasuke flipped through the book, trying to look for the perfect question, which meant the hardest question in the book. Finally stopping at a question, he looked over at Hinata and spoke.

"What is the most common genetic mutation of the factor VIII gene seen in patients with hemophilia A?"

Hinata's face paled. That was such a tough question. Hinata closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. She could do this! She knew the answer, she had to know the answer. What was that figure again? What if she got it wrong? What would she have to take off? Why did he need to ask such a hard question?

"You can't take that long to answer," Sasuke said tauntingly. She couldn't possibly know the answer to that, heck, he didn't even know the proper answer.

Suddenly remembering the answer, Hinata opened her eyes and spoke excitedly.

"Approximately 45 of patients with hemophilia A will have an inversion of intron 22 on the factor VIII gene."

Hinata smiled shyly as Sasuke stared back at her with a sour face. He flipped to the back of the book to check for the correct answer.

"Am I right?" Hinata asked anxiously.

"Yes."

Grinning from ear to ear, Hinata lightly jumped up in happiness and did a little girly twirl. She knew she could do it! She was so proud of herself. When she finally stopped her mini-celebration, she saw Sasuke staring at her and her cheeks were once again tainted with the colour red.

"Sorry," she said timidly.

"Just ask me a damn question," Sasuke said sourly. He didn't get her this time, but he would get her the next time. Although, he had to admit that he was impressed by the way she gave a perfect answer. She was an intelligent girl. It was nice to see a girl dedicated to her profession; someone who didn't waste all her time on looking good and chasing boys. She must've spent a lot of time studying to get a question like that right.

Hinata flipped through the book quickly and, unlike Sasuke who deliberately found hard questions, she randomly picked one.

"What drugs are most commonly associated with hyperprolactinemia?"

Sasuke scoffed. This was too easy. "Tricyclic antidepressants, Phenothiazines, Butyrephenones Metaclopramide, and Reserpine."

Hinata looked for the answers at the back of the book. "Umm, actually, you're missing two more drugs."

"What? Don't lie," Sasuke said calmly, confident that he wasn't wrong. He eyed Hinata suspiciously and crossed his arms in a childlike manner. He could never be wrong!

"Really," Hinata said as she walked closer to Sasuke and showed him the answers at the back of the book.

"You missed Alpha-methyldopa and Cimetidine."

Refusing to admit defeat, Sasuke retaliated. "So I missed two drugs, I still got it right."

"That's n-not fair," Hinata said defiantly. Had she made the same mistake, he would've been all up in her face, saying that she was wrong. She wasn't going to let him walk all over her.

"So, you're saying that I'm wrong?" Sasuke asked coldly, looking at her heatedly with his dark onyx eyes.

Hinata took a step back.

"Umm, well, you didn't answer the question completely correct a-and, the rules--"

"So you want me to take something off?"

"Yes! Wait- no… umm, the rules a-and?" Hinata nervously babbled on as she figured out what to say. What was she getting herself into?

Sasuke found Hinata's jumpiness amusing and somewhat entertaining. It didn't take much to get her flabbergasted and speechless. It was rather funny.

"It was your idea," Hinata finally said calmly.

"Fine," Sasuke grunted. He hesitantly started removing the blanket from his body, only to reveal that he was in a blue hospital gown that reached a bit past his knees. He then threw the blanket onto the floor, suddenly feeling cold and exposed.

"Happy?" He asked bitterly. Another reason to hate hospitals was that they always made you wear silly, degrading gowns, that were too short and open from the back.

"What was that?" Hinata asked, a little confused.

"I took off my blanket."

"But y-you were suppose to take off a piece of c-clothing," Hinata said meekly.

"Well, it's a cloth and I was wearing it. Look, unless you want me standing here with nothing but boxers on, I suggest that you shut up."

Blushing at the idea of Sasuke standing in front of her with almost nothing on, Hinata nodded and looked down at the floor.

"Here, give me the book, its my turn to ask," Sasuke said as he grabbed the book from Hinata.

"Which rash is a maculosquamous eruption with scattered red/brown scaling lesions commonly involving the palms and soles?"

Hinata scratched her head and titled her head. "Is it, Secondary syphilis?"

Damn. She was good. Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Yes."

Hinata beamed. She was actually enjoying the game. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. She was getting all of the questions right and she was learning things while having fun.

Hinata asked Sasuke another question. "How much of the oral dose of atenolol is absorbed from the GI tract?"

Good. An easy one. "Approximately fifty percent," Sasuke said without hesitation.

"What are the two categories of testicular germ cell tumors?"

Hinata pondered the question for a moment as she twirled a strand of hair in her hand. "The two categories of testicular germ cell tumors are seminomas and non-seminomas, right?"

He hated the way she always looked like she didn't know the answer, but then _bam_!.. She would hit you with the right answer. Stupid tease!

Hinata happily grabbed the book from Sasuke and asked him another question.

"Is enalapril contraindicated in pregnancy?"

"What? I don't know anything about pregnancy," Sasuke said angrily. What kind of stupid question was that?

"But I thought you said you knew everything," Hinata said innocently, but there was a hint of banter underneath it.

"Who cares about pregnancy, only women need to know about that. Men can't get pregnant."

A little annoyed of his haughty attitude, Hinata spoke up.

"Many men perform child birth and all male doctors know the answer to this question. Just b-because you don't know anything about pregnancy, doesn't mean other people don't."

Sasuke scoffed.

"And you know the answer?" He asked, as if challenging Hinata.

"Ah, yes. Enalapril is contraindicated in pregnancy and should not be used. It has been associated with fetal and neonatal injury in the second and third trimesters," Hinata said triumphantly. She sure showed him. _Take that mister know-it-all_, Hinata cheered in her mind.

"So you think your smart now?" Sasuke asked, angry that his ego had to take a hard blow.

"I-I never said I was," Hinata said shyly. She didn't mean to show off, but he was being an arrogant prick.

Sasuke removed his head band and threw it on the floor and without a word, grabbed the book from her hand. Okay, now he was mad. Apparently, she knew all the answers in the medical prep book, so now he was going to ask her fake questions with fake answers. She was so gullible that she would believe everything and anything that came out of his mouth. Sure, it was a little under-handed and sneaky, but he wasn't going to lose to a girl.

Especially Hinata.

But what about honestly and morality? It felt wrong to lie and cheat with such an innocent girl. Sasuke thought about that argument for two seconds before he made his decision.

Fuck morality and honesty- he wanted to see Hinata in her undies!

"What are the primary uses for Metroprololite?" He asked Hinata, hoping that she didn't see through the false drug name.

Hinata looked at Sasuke with a confused expression. What the heck was Metroproloite? She had never heard of such a drug before.

"Are you sure that's a question?" Hinata asked innocently. Maybe he was pronouncing the name incorrectly, but then again, he was much too intelligent to make such a mistake.

"You don't trust me? That hurts, Hinata," Sasuke said, putting a hand over his heart and faking a hurt look.

Hinata was just too trusting.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Hinata said quickly, feeling bad that she doubted Sasuke. "I just don't know what drug your talking about."

"You should read _Medical Reports Weekly _more often then," Sasuke said arrogantly.

"Yes, umm, well…," Hinata said sadly. She really tried hard to keep up with current medical news, but sometimes her life got so hectic that she couldn't keep up with contemporary information. She was grateful that Sasuke was helping her study, she was learning a lot.

"So, you don't know the answer?" Sasuke said while smirking confidently, knowing exactly why she didn't recognize the drug.

Hinata gulped. "No," she said softly.

"You know what to do then," he said condescendingly as he smirked and watched the shy girl suddenly turn tense.

Hinata slowly removed the sweater she wore on top of her blouse and placed the discarded item on to the bed. She was glad that she decided to wear layers today and only had to take off her button-up sweater. It was only one wrong question, she would get over it. She could redeem herself, right?

Hinata and Sasuke continued to ask more questions and soon enough, off came …

the socks…

the light blue blouse…

the hospital gown….

the undershirt…

Hinata stood uncomfortably in her cotton, white bra and dark blue pants. If she had to take off her pants, she would die. She would literally die. She stood awkwardly at the side of the bed, with her arms crossed- an attempt to cover herself a little bit. She wouldn't dare look Sasuke in eye especially with him sitting on the bed, half-naked.

Sasuke stared at the frightened girl standing before him. She was wearing such a plain and unappealing bra… so simple, but he liked something about it. She was beautiful in her own simple way, but he wasn't about to admit that to her.

"Umm, could y-you not s-stare?" Hinata said awkwardly as she noticed Sasuke staring at her for the longest time. It was creeping her out.

"I wasn't staring at you, I was looking at the clock behind you," Sasuke said unpleasantly, angry that he was caught staring at her. She wasn't even that pretty, he kept telling himself.

"Ah, Sasuke, I think we should s-stop," Hinata said nervously. If they stopped now, she would save some dignity, or what was left of it. She was standing in front of Sasuke in her bra and he was sitting on the bed in his boxers. What was the world coming to?

"After I give you your last question. Its only fair," Sasuke said as he smirked. If she got to see him in his underwear, then he wanted to see her in her underwear.

Hinata nervously played with her hair. Oh no! If she got this last question wrong, that would mean that she would have to take off her pants and she would be standing in front of him in her underwear. Just thinking about that was making her feel faint.

"Are you sure that those questions are from the book?" Hinata suddenly asked as she walked closer to Sasuke, who was sitting on the bed, to grab the book and check for the question herself. All the questions that Sasuke was asking were really strange.

However, before Hinata could grab hold of the book, Sasuke yanked it backwards, moving it from her reach. Hinata looked at Sasuke strangely and went a bit more forward to grab the book once more. But Sasuke being the ass that he was, moved the object further away from the girl.

Her body hovered over his slightly and Hinata blushed at their close proximity, but she was determined to get the book from him. If he was making such an effort to move the book away from her, then he was probably hiding something for sure. Why couldn't he just give it? He always had to be difficult.

Frustrated and annoyed, Hinata extended her arm and body further, but Sasuke kept pulling it back and in one tiny movement forward, Hinata accidentally fell on top of Sasuke's bare chest. She could feel his soft, warm skin rub against the bare parts of her body.

She moved her hands trying to find support to hoist herself up, only to find that they were scattered along Sasuke's shoulders. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. Her chest was pressed up against his. She then remembered that she was on top of a shirtless guy, in only her bra.

Sasuke was rather enjoying the turn of events. Hinata's delicate body felt nice against his hard body and her awkwardness was amusing. She was so inexperienced that she had no idea what to do with a man laying down underneath her.

Hinata blushed even more as she tried to avoid eye contact with Sasuke. But the way that he was looking at her was making her feel weird inside and her breathing pattern started to quicken. She slowly tried to get up, but Sasuke quickly turned the tables on her and pinned her down to the bed, this time him on top of her.

"Much better," he said in a sultry tone. Hinata gasped at his sudden movement and didn't have the slightest idea as to what to do next. Should she push him off? She was aroused and terrified at the same time. She was so inexperienced with boys and intimate moments.

Sasuke softly glided a finger up her bare arm. She shivered at the light touch and she could feel his hot breath on her face.

"We always end up on top of each other," he passionately whispered in her ear.

Hinata gulped and she tried to think of something to say, but she couldn't muster up any words or get her mouth to function. She could feel her face burning and her throat run dry. She was feeling all giddy and frivolous inside. She always felt like this when she was with him. Maybe there was some part inside of him that liked her… that wanted her… that desired her.

That thought alone was making Hinata feel overjoyed inside.

However, what she felt next was something she had never felt before and she doubted that anyone else could make her ever feel this way again.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke buried his face into the crook of Hinata's neck and kissed her soft skin sensuously. Hinata bit her bottom lip as she tried to hold in her urge to moan. She felt like there were thousands of butterflies flying around in her stomach. She should've pushed him off long time ago, but she didn't. It felt so damn good.

He slowly removed the bra strap from her shoulder with his rough hand as he slowly rubbed the area with his thumb. Hinata could feel the coarseness against her skin and her back arched slightly from the touch. He tenderly kissed the area before he moved towards her neck once again. One of his hands rested on the side of her bare waist, while the other twisted itself into her long, Indigo hair.

Hinata's hands unknowingly traveled up his back and she could feel each and every toned muscle under her delicate finger tips until she buried them into his dark locks. Sasuke continued to kiss her neck, traveling upwards toward her jaw line. He then slowly started to plant soft butterfly kissed across her jaw line, making Hinata feel like she was going to explode.

Hinata was entranced by his soft movements.

Suddenly, both of them heard someone jerking on the door handle and pounding on the door. Hinata frantically shoved Sasuke off of her and jumped off the bed. She started picking up her discarded clothes and panicked as she walked back and forth in the small room, wondering what she should do.

If they were found together, she was done for.

What if someone caught her in the room, with both of them half-naked and her neck red? What would people think? What would Neji do?

"What are we going to do?" Hinata whispered to Sasuke in a panicked state.

"Get under the bed," Sasuke said quickly. Hinata did as she was told and fell to the floor and crawled under the bed as Sasuke shoved all her things under along with her.

A few seconds later, the door opened and a loud figure walked in.

"Dude, did you know your door was locked?" Naruto asked as he huffed into the room uninvited.

"It was locked for a reason," Sasuke said angrily, trying to hold in the urge to knock the blond out.

Naruto ignored the comment and walked further into the room. Hinata could see Naruto's shoes from under the bed as he walked around. She nervously clamped a hand around her mouth to make sure she didn't make any noise.

"Why does it smell like Vanilla in here?"

Damn. Who knew Naruto had such a sharp nose. Hinata hoped that he wouldn't smell her out from under the bed.

"I happen to like Vanilla scent," Sasuke blurted out.

"Really? But isn't that for like, girls?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head. He could've sworn that Hinata smelled like vanilla.

"Its unisex," Sasuke answered quickly, but before Sasuke could shove him out the door, Naruto inched closer to the bed.

"And why aren't you wearing anything?" Naruto pondered as he noticed that Sasuke was in his boxers.

Before Sasuke could answer, Naruto came up with his own conclusions.

"The locked door… vanilla…you in boxers… you weren't you know?"

Naruto sickly winked at Sasuke.

"No," Sasuke said irritably.

Hinata wondered what Naruto was talking about. He couldn't have possibly known that she and Sasuke were…? What could Sasuke possibly do all alone in a room that would be so suggestive?

"Its okay, man. I do it too! Masturbation is totally safe and normal--"

Hinata almost gagged as she heard Naruto's confession. She hoped that Sasuke would quickly get rid of Naruto so she could leave as fast as possible!

"What the fuck? Get out of my room!"

"Come on, Sasuke, don't be like that," Naruto said as he put up his hands in defense.

"Get out, bazooka thighs," Sasuke said as he got up to shove Naruto out the door.

"Hey! Tsunade said my weight range is normal and that I'm still growing! You know I'm not fat, I have big bones. It's a sensitive issue," Naruto shouted in defense.

Hinata listened silently to Naruto's yelling. Her stomach was pressed against the cold tiles and there was dust everywhere around her. She pressed her shirt on her face, like a shield to block all the dust from going up her nose.

Hinata watched Sasuke's feet inch closer towards Naruto, however, before he could grab hold of the blond, another figure walked into the room and latched itself onto the unsuspecting dark-haired boy.

Hinata stared at another pair of feet from under the bed. She couldn't recognize who that was.

Was she ever going to get out from under there?

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**_Please Review_**

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	11. Chapter XI

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**_Chapter XI_**

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Hinata stared at a pair of red heels from under the bed. The shoes seemed somewhat familiar but she still couldn't place the shoes with a face. The person was standing awfully close to Sasuke. Hinata shook her head. It didn't matter who it was, she just wanted them all to go away so she could get out from under the bed. She was starting to feel cold and was grossed out by all the dust and filth around her. 

"Sasuke!" A screeching voice called out.

Hinata's eyes widened and she tried not to gasp when she realized just who the person was. _Please don't let it be her…_

"Sasuke? Where have you been, baby?" The black-haired woman said as she grabbed hold of Sasuke's arm and leaned against him. (Same woman who shares nights with him -_wink_ _wink-_)

"Dead," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Dude, where did you find a woman like that?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke as he watched the luscious woman throw herself on top of his friend.

"How do I lose a woman like her?" Sasuke replied back, annoyed that his so-called best friend and Reiyuku had to barge in on him and Hinata like that.

"I would never leave you Sasuke," Reiyuku said as she leaned in forward to reveal more of her cleavage.

Sasuke balled his hands into fists.

"Both of you, get out," he said as he clenched his teeth tightly. Both of them were giving him a headache.

Hinata listened carefully from under the bed.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me twice. Sheesh, I only came to check up on you," Naruto said as he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"We can finally be alone," Reiyuku said seductively as she sat on the bed and leaned back slightly.

Hinata cringed as she felt the mattress weigh down on top of her.

"Did you hear that?" The black-haired woman asked when she heard Hinata squeak from under the bed.

"No," Sasuke said plainly as he tried to look anywhere else other then the bed.

"I swear I heard something," the woman whispered softly.

Hinata gulped as she tightened her arms around and squeezed her eyes shut and she tried not to get nervous. She never really did well when she was put under pressure and being shoved under a bed half-naked was too much for Hinata. The idea of getting caught was making her a tad bit jumpy.

"Something doesn't feel right," the woman eyed Sasuke suspiciously and looked around the room to see if anything was out of place.

She walked around the room, checking the small bathroom and closet. Sasuke ignored her because he knew that she wouldn't find anything, especially when Hinata was under the bed. When Reiyuku was finally satisfied with her search, she once again made her way to the bed and sat down.

She heard the squeak once again.

"There! I heard something," the woman screamed frantically as she made her way to the floor on her knees to check under the bed.

Hinata gasped. What was wrong with her? Whenever someone sat on the bed, Hinata felt like she was going to be crushed by the weight and it was a stupid reflex of hers to make some type of noise, specifically a squeak.

Sasuke lunged down as he made an attempt to grab the dark-haired woman, but not before she shoved her hand under the bed and grabbed something soft.

Both girls screamed loudly.

Sasuke grabbed the woman and roughly moved her away from the bed. He placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming so loudly.

"Someone is down there," Reiyuku said nervously as she held onto Sasuke.

Hinata bit her bottom lip and figured that since Reiyuku already knew that she was under there, it was time to reveal herself. Hinata meekly rolled out from under the bed and stood up. She dusted herself off slowly and tried not to look at Sasuke or the woman directly in the eye. It was just too embarassing!

"You," Reiyuku screamed loudly and pointed an accusing finger at the frightened, pale girl.

"Eep." Hinata quickly threw her shirt over her head.

"If you'll excuse me," Hinata said softly as she made a dash the door so she wouldn't have to confront either of them.

"Oh no you don't," Reiyuku screeched as she broke through the hold Sasuke had on her and blocked the only exit from the room with her body.

"You're not going anywhere until you explain to me what you were doing under there."

Hinata turned around and looked at Sasuke, her eyes questioning and scared, but he simply shrugged in response.

Hinata didn't say anything. Think of an excuse!

"Don't tell me that you and Sasuke were-- eek! That's so gross," the woman in front of Hinata shrieked loudly.

"Um, n-noo, n-noo-o. We d-didn't--"

"Of course you didn't! Why would he come after someone like you when he has me?"

The woman seductively walked over to Sasuke, stopping in front of him and putting her hands on each side of his waist and pulling him into a kiss.

Hinata stood shocked and speechless as she watched Sasuke allow that god-awful woman to do that to him.

Weren't they just doing something along the lines of that a moment ago? Was he just using her before?

When they finished kissing, the woman turned around and faced Hinata while her hands were still all over Sasuke. She smiled knowingly at the smaller girl.

Sasuke could see the hurt on Hinata's face, but he couldn't do anything to pull away. He wanted her to see this so that she would leave him alone. He didn't want her to get involved with him and then in the end, get hurt because of him. If she knew what a horrible person he was now, it was for the best.

"See? He probably only wasted his time with you because he knew that you would be easy," the woman said cruelly.

Hinata's eyes filled up with tears. This was not happening. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head violently.

"B-but, I t-thought," Hinata choked on her words.

"You thought what?" Sasuke finally spoke. "That me and you would be together?"

The woman beside him laughed loudly and Sasuke gave a fake grin.

"Girls like you are always so predicable," Sasuke said bitterly.

Girls like her? What kind of girl was she? One thing Hinata knew was that she was not the type of girl who would allow herself to be used in such a disrespectful way.

"Just go home and cry to your mommy, little girl," the older woman added in a spiteful tone.

Hinata wiped the falling tears from her face. For the first time in Hinata's life, she decided she was going to do something to defend herself. Something to show people that she was not a push over.

She was finally going to stand up for herself.

She slowly made her way to the couple and without thinking or registering anything rational in her head, her hand rose up and…

_Slap_

A red handprint was visible on Reiyuku's porcelain skin.

The woman gasped as she put her hand over the cheek Hinata assaulted.

"You little bitch…"

But before Reiyuku could finish her sentence…

_Slap_

She slapped Sasuke across the face, hard. She looked at him directly in the eyes, for once not scared of making eye contact. He didn't move an inch and for a second she could see guilt in his eyes.

"I guess girls like me aren't always so predictable," Hinata said softly before she ran out of the room, her eyes full of tears.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Sorry for the short chapter and the extremely late update. Been busy with school and work and stuffs. I'm making Sasuke into such an asshole, aren't I? Two slaps in one chapter! Whoo! Go Hinata! I created my own character to play the bitch because I didn't want to bash any of the characters on the show. So yeah... I'll try to make Sasuke a bit nicer in the next chapter, hopefully! Updates might take a bit longer during the school year and with Christmas and stuff coming up, things are going to get hectic, but I'll try to update whenever I have time. I'm currently obsessed with the show, _Bleach_! Eep! I love that show and I'm only on episode 31! 

Thanks to everyone who reads this story and to all the awesome reviewers! Mucho appreciated!

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**_Please Review_**

* * *

TBC 


	12. Chapter XII

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**_Chapter XII_**

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked Naruto as they stepped through the glass doors of a fancy jewelry store. 

"I told you! I promised Sakura that I would pick up something that we ordered from here," Naruto answered with enthusiasm. The blond boy looked around the room and spotted the salesman he wanted to speak to and walked towards him.

Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pocket and followed Naruto to the glass counter.

"Ah, nice to see you gentlemen. Tell me, how can I help you today?" The man standing behind the counter greeted the two young men with a smile.

"We need to pick up an order that I placed a couple of days ago," Naruto answered politely. The old man nodded his head, signaling that he knew which item they were talking about. The boys watched as the man quickly ran into the backroom to retrieve what they came for.

"What did you guys order?" Sasuke asked casually.

Naruto scratched his head. "I think she said she got a custom-made bracelet for Hinata's birthday, or was it a necklace? Well, something like that. She chose it and all I had to do was place the order and pick it up."

"Her birthday?" Sasuke asked slightly confused. He didn't know her birthday was coming up, but then again, why would he even want to know? He didn't care, right?

"Yeah," Naruto said with excitement as his eyes lit up and his smile grew wider. "Its tomorrow and Sakura's throwing her a bubble tea party."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Bubble tea party?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke and dropped his chin to his chest. "What? You don't know what a bubble tea party is?"

"Do I want to know?" Sasuke said as he rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do! It's the coolest. We all get together and go to the tea shop where we play games, talk and have fun--"

"Like at a normal party?"

"What? Not even. Do you get to drink bubble tea at a normal party? That wonderful sweet liquid, mixed with delicious jelly at the bottom. No you don't," Naruto said excitedly as he pointed a finger at Sasuke to exaggerate his point.

Sasuke scowled and grabbed Naruto's finger with his hand and pushed it slightly back, inflicting a whole world of pain on the blond boy's finger. Naruto needed to learn that pointing fingers at people was rude.

"Ow ow ow. What did you do that for?" Naruto screamed loudly as he cuddled his injured finger.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "You were annoying me."

"You're just mad that you didn't get invited to the party," Naruto said as he stuck out his tongue out.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "Yes, that must be it."

Naruto continued to taunt the dark-haired boy. "Maybe if you weren't such an angsty emo-freak, you might make some friends."

Sasuke scoffed, but before he could reply the salesman returned from the backroom and stood in front of the boys with the bracelet in his hand. Naruto grabbed the silver item from the man and looked closely at the name engraved into it.

"What the…? This is not how you spell her name."

"Sorry, sir, but we followed exactly was written on the sheet." The man opened a drawer behind him and took out the original order sheet.

"See here?"

Sasuke looked at the sheet and snickered. The idiot forgot the first "A" from her name and spelt H-I-N-T-A instead. How stupid could you get?

"What?" Naruto yelled and balled his hands into fists. "Sakura is going to kill me. She told me not to screw this up. It was the only thing I had to do for the party."

The sales man took a step back from the fuming boy. "Well, we can fix the problem, but you will have to wait a bit longer."

"Do whatever you have to, please just fix it." Naruto begged as he leaned against the glass counter and grabbed the man's hands into his own hands.

"Please, sir, control yourself," the man said as he tried to pry himself away from the grabby boy.

Sasuke watched indifferently and sighed as Naruto made a huge scene in the store. He slowly backed away from the embarrassing boy, not wanted people to know that they came in together. This was why he rarely went anywhere with him.

"Don't worry, sir, everything will be fine- please if you could let go of me."

Naruto let go of the man's hand and scratched the back of his head. "Heehee. Sorry."

The man quickly ran into the backroom, wanting to get away from Naruto as fast as possible.

"Wait," Naruto called after the frightened man, "let me come with you. I want to make sure nothing else goes wrong."

Before the man could resurface and tell the boy to stay put, Naruto already made his way over the counter and followed the man into the backroom. After a few seconds of noisy bickering that could be heard in the front store, it became quiet once again. Sasuke figured that the man must have given up because neither of them came out.

Sasuke sighed and wondered what he should do now. Should he just leave? Feeling extremely bored, he started walking around the room, looking at various things before he was stopped by a saleswoman.

"Looking for something in particular?" She asked sweetly and smiled brightly. "Something for a loved one?"

"Not really--"

"Oh, I've got the perfect thing," the woman said, ignoring Sasuke's response and bent down to open the showcase and took out a beautiful necklace.

The perfectly cut stone shined brightly in the woman's hand as she brought it closer to Sasuke. The long gold chain, contained a gleaming turquoise gem.

Sasuke stared at the exquisite piece of jewelry.

"The chain is 24-karat gold and the stone itself is a Paraiba Tourmaline, a very rare gemstone. This colour is also very hard to come by in gemstones; a brilliant turquoise shade."

The woman continued when she saw that Sasuke looked somewhat interested, although it was hard to tell because of his constant blank expression.

"The way it has been cut is exceptionally exquisite because of the unique fire and brilliance that is displayed and it makes the stone seem to glow and shine from within even when there is little light."

Sasuke continued to stare at the beautiful stone and even he had to admit that it was simply breathtaking.

"There's an old story that goes along with this necklace," the woman said excitedly as she smiled and leaned in closer.

"The history behind this necklace is of a beautiful, yet tragic tale. It's an ancient Greek story about two lovers named Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was a musician who played the most beautiful, mesmerizing music on Earth. Every time he played, beasts would draw near, rocks would travel closer and trees would yearn to be near him. One day, he met a young woman named Eurydice and instantly fell in love with her. Their love was pure and indestructible and he gave her this unbreakable stone as a symbol for their love."

The woman dangled the necklace in her hand and continued with the story.

"However, one day tragedy fell upon both of them and Eurydice was bit by a poisonous snake that killed her and her soul was taken to the underworld. Orpheus refused to live life without her and he made his way to the underworld to bring her back. A normal mortal would have perished at the brinks of the underworld, but Orpheus had his lyre (it's like a mini-harp) and charmed his way through with his music."

"The rulers of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone were so saddened by the sorrow that seeped through his music that they agreed to give life to Eurydice once again, but only on one condition. Eurydice would follow him back into the world of light, but she would walk behind him and he would not be allowed to look back. If he did look back, then she would disappear forever. Orpheus instantly agreed and started to walk down the dark hallway towards the world of light. He carefully listened for any footsteps behind, but didn't hear any. The closer he got to the light the more he started to doubt Hades, believing that he had been tricked. With only a feet away from the light, Orpheus lost faith and turned around. He saw Eurydice for a brief second before she was whisked away towards the pool of dead souls and all that was left behind was this necklace."

Sasuke stared at the woman with a skeptical expression.

"A sad story, isn't it?" The woman asked as she continued to admire the stone.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Well, why didn't he go back?"

The lady laughed lightly. "Well, everyone knows that you can't get back into the underworld the same way twice and he had no other ways of getting in."

"So, what did he do after?" Sasuke inquired, somewhat curious to know what happened to the man.

"He eventually died. They say his songs were so full of sorrow that he called death upon himself and all the animals shred him to his end. The only thing that survived through the tragedy was this necklace."

Sasuke furrowed his brows. "So, this is the exact necklace?"

The woman smiled brightly and handed the necklace over to Sasuke. "Well, not exactly. It's a replica, but the meaning is still the same. What ever way you look at it, its still very romantic. The devotion and love that Orpheus had for his wife was never-ending and this necklace is a symbol of that."

Sasuke stared at the necklace. A display of never-ending love? He didn't share that kind of love with anyone, or at least he didn't think he did. However, he could think of one person he would ever want to give a necklace like that to, but he promised himself that he would do anything to stay away from her. He could only imagine how beautiful it would look on her.

He felt bad about what happened at the hospital and figured that he should at least do something nice; something to show her that he wasn't completely heartless. He knew that everything he said to her was unforgivable, but it would make him feel better if he did something for her.

"Would you like to purchase it?" The woman asked from behind the counter, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts.

* * *

Hinata stared at the beautifully wrapped box that sat on top of her pillow on her bed. When did someone come in and place that on her bed? Hinata tilted her head as she recalled the events of the day. She hadn't been home for most of the day because she spent the first half of her birthday with her cousin and Tenten doing various activities. They planned a lot of different activities that kept her smiling and kept her mind from wondering to certain unpleasant issues. 

It had been weeks since she last saw or heard of him. She was determined to not let him wander through her mind and take over her emotions. If he didn't want to be with her, then she didn't want to be with him and that was that. She wasn't the type of girl who would stay hung up on some guy. She was going to get over him no matter how hard or long it took.

Hinata shook her head. Why was she even thinking about him now?

She sighed and turned her attention to the box once again. Right now, she needed to figure who put that gift there and why?

Hinata started thinking of the people who could've done something so special for her. Could it have been Neji? No, it couldn't have been him because he was with her the whole day and he left their apartment before she did and it defiantly hadn't been there before. But, nobody else had a key to their apartment, so the only way to get in was to break-in.

Hinata walked towards the window to make sure that it was still in tact. She lifted up the window and looked outside of her apartment. There was no sign that anyone had broken into her room. Would someone actually go through all that trouble to surprise her with a present?

She turned away from the window and stared at the box once again. Maybe someone was trying to kill her and the box contained a ticking bomb? Hinata laughed at her own silliness and gently hit herself on the head. She could get so carried away with her crazy thoughts.

She made her way to the gift and lifted it up cautiously. She held the box up to her ear and shook it slightly but heard nothing. She gently removed the ribbons around the box and tore off the wrapping. She opened the box slowly…

Hinata gasped when she saw what was inside the box. She couldn't get herself to believe what was in the box. It was a beautifully cut turquoise gem. She lifted the necklace out of its box and examined it carefully. Who would spend all that money on her and get her something so rare and beautiful? It was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen.

She was left speechless as she continuously stared at the gem. Her eyes filled with tears of happiness. She didn't know why she was crying, the tears just kept pouring out.

A knock came from the door and Hinata pried her eyes away from the necklace. "Hurry up, Hinata or we'll be late."

"I'm coming," Hinata said softly, her voice cracking slightly.

Hinata quickly put on the necklace around her neck and made her way to the mirror. The necklace shined beautifully against her pale skin. She needed to thank the person who gave her this. It was just too much. Hinata searched the box but didn't find a card or note anywhere.

Maybe this mysterious person would be at the party tonight?

* * *

"Wow! Hinata, you look beautiful," Naruto yelled loudly as she walked into the tea shop and everybody suddenly stopped to look at her. 

Hinata blushed, not really liking all the attention she was receiving. "T-thank you."

Suddenly, everyone surrounded Hinata and wished her a happy birthday. All of her old and closest friends were at the gathering and Hinata couldn't have been happier. She was glad to see that she had such wonderful people in her life.

"Come here, I wanna show you something," Naruto said as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to a corner of the tea shop, away from the small group.

"Hey wait!" Neji yelled, but before he could make his way over to where Naruto dragged Hinata, he was stopped by Tenten pulling his arm and telling him to stay put.

Once they made their way to the corner of the store, Naruto looked at Hinata and took out a wrapped box from his pocket. Hinata observed the box and noticed that it was similar to the one that was left on her bed. Was it Naruto that got her the necklace that she was wearing? The boxes seemed like they came from the same place.

"Me and Sakura pitched in and got you this," Naruto said as he blushed slightly and handed it to her.

If he got her this present, then it couldn't have been Naruto.

Hinata smiled softly. "You-you shouldn't have."

"Ah, it was nothing. Go on, open it."

* * *

Neji couldn't help but stare at the two in the corner. 

"What are they doing over there?" He whispered to Tenten as they stood a few feet away from the two. Neji scowled and crossed his arms.

"Something that isn't happening over here. Leave them alone, they'll be fine."

"But--"

Tenten gave him a disapproving look and Neji instantly shut up. Women could be so scary sometimes.

* * *

Hinata looked around the room for a brief second before she turned around and looked at Naruto innocently. "Where's Sakura?" 

Naruto placed a hand behind his head. "She went to go get the cake, she'll be back any second. But come on, open it. Trust me, she won't get angry."

"B-but--"

"Please?" Naruto made such a cute, pleading face that she just couldn't refuse.

"Ah, okay," Hinata said reluctantly and opened the box Naruto handed her before.

Naruto smiled brightly and waited for her reaction.

"Oh Naruto, it's absolutely beautiful."

Inside the box was a beautiful silver bracelet with her name engraved in the middle of it. First the necklace and then this bracelet. She felt like she didn't deserve any of this.

"Here, let me put it on for you," Naruto offered and gently got a hold of her wrist.

Hinata couldn't help but cry just a little. She was so grateful that everyone was pitching in and making her birthday such a special day for her.

* * *

Neji gasped. "Why is he holding her hand?" 

"Maybe you could learn a few tips from him," Tenten replied as she rolled her eyes and chewed on a piece of tapioca.

Neji scowled.

"Here, have some bubble tea, it'll make you feel better."

* * *

Hinata spent the rest of the night chatting with her old high school friends and secretly trying to figure out who gave her the necklace. Many people complimented her on the piece of jewelry around her neck, but no one owned up to giving it to her. 

She went around the room looking for any clues and searching for people who would potentially do something like this for her, but she just couldn't pinpoint anyone to it.

In the back her head, she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was Sasuke that left her that beautiful necklace. If it was him, was it a good thing or bad thing? Sometimes she just couldn't understand the things he did. However, she knew that it couldn't have been Sasuke because he made it more then clear that he didn't want anything to do with her.

Hinata continued to walk around the room, trying to investigate but she would get sidetracked every so often and didn't make much progress.

Soon enough, she gave up for the evening and continued to enjoy the presence of her friends.

"Sakura," Hinata called out once she spotted the pink-haired girl.

"Hinata, oh hey!"

"Thank you so much for the bracelet you and Naruto got for me, it's beautiful," Hinata said as she pulled up her hand to show Sakura that she was indeed wearing it.

"I'm so glad that you like it," Sakura said as she smiled brightly. "Its looks good on you."

Sakura leaned in closer to take a look at the bracelet on Hinata's arm when she noticed something weird.

"Hey, Hinata. Why is your wrist all red?"

Hinata looked at her wrist more closely. "Huh? Ah, it wasn't like that before."

"You aren't by any chance allergic to nickel?"

Hinata blinked in a confused state. "I sometimes get an infection if I wear silver earrings, so I guess I am."

"Oh man. That idiot screwed up again," Sakura said angrily and put her hands on her hips. "You can take it off, otherwise it's going to spread."

"Oh, but I love the bracelet--"

"Its okay. We can go and exchange it for something that won't cause your whole arm to turn red."

Hinata did as she was told and took off the bracelet and handed it back to Sakura.

"Wait here, I'm going to kill that buffoon for messing things up again."

"Oh, no--" Hinata started to tell Sakura that it was alright but it was too late and she quickly ran off the find Naruto.

The rest of the night Hinata wondered who could've possibly sent her the surprise present, but then again, maybe she was never meant to know.

* * *

The next day Hinata stood in front of the jewelry store patiently as she waited for Sakura to show up. She told Sakura many times that she was happy with the gift they got her, but she insisted that they exchange it for something that she could actually wear. 

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I had to run an errand," Sakura said as she caught up to Hinata and panted lightly.

"Its okay. I wasn't standing here long."

Both girls stepped into the jewelry store and made their way to the front counter.

"I would like to exchange this please," Sakura said to the woman behind the counter and handed her the box with the bracelet inside.

"Of course, if you could please select the item that you would like to exchange it for."

Sakura turned around and looked at Hinata. "You go ahead and choose something that you like and I'll deal with the paperwork."

"Okay," Hinata whispered.

Hinata started looking around the store for anything that appealed to her. There wasn't anything in particular that completely caught Hinata's attention. She was currently looking at rings when a sales woman approached her.

"Ah, so you're the lucky girl," she said as she smiled brightly at the smaller girl.

Hinata looked up at the woman with a confused expression. "Ex-excuse me?"

"The necklace that you're wearing. It's one of a kind, you know. You're very lucky."

"Thank you," Hinata whispered softly.

"So, did he give it to you because of a special occasion or just as a gift to show how much he loves you?"

Hinata blushed slightly, but was utterly confused at what this woman was saying.

"He didn't look like the romantic type to me at first, but after I told him the Greek myth, he bought it without even considering the price," the woman chattered on.

Hinata blinked rapidly. "Who are you talking about?"

The woman stopped talking and gapped at Hinata. "Well, your boyfriend of course, or is he your husband?"

Once again Hinata's pale cheeks changed colour. This woman must have been referring to another person because she didn't have a husband or a boyfriend.

"He was a handsome guy with dark blue hair and pale skin and he had an angry look on his face the whole time," the woman said as she scratched her head and tried to remember more details.

Hinata gasped as she continued to hear the woman chat on about the person who bought this necklace. Handsome? Blue hair? Pale skin? Angry expression? That description could only fit one person, but Hinata just couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it! It was impossible.

"He had a very unique name. I can't see to remember--"

"Sasuke?" Hinata blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Yes, that was it! Sasuke!"

Hinata clutched onto the necklace and started to feel a bit queasy, before she knew it she blacked out and fell to the floor.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry, not much interaction between Sasuke and Hinata but I wanted this and the next chapter to be light and cute. The next chapter will hopefully be full of Sasuke and Hinata goodness. 

If you go to my profile, you can find a link that shows what gem I'm talking about in the story. Its so bootiful!

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**_Please Review_**

* * *

TBC 


	13. Chapter XIII

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_**

**_Chapter XIII_**

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Hinata's chest heaved up and down as she ran through the isolated training grounds. It was dark, cold and terribly scary, but she wanted to- no _needed_ to speak to him. The frosty wind bit at her cheeks and she could feel her legs burning in pain but she just couldn't get herself to stop. 

She needed some answers from him.

Knowing that Sasuke got her this necklace made her feel terrified and confused, yet overwhelmingly happy and anxious at the same time. Hinata clenched the necklace in her hand and ran her thumb against the stone. Why would he do something like this for her? Sasuke had made it clear many times that he didn't want anything to do with her and then out of nowhere he decides to do something that shows her that he cares for her?

Was she being naïve to believe that he might possibly like her? She had been let down so many times before...

Fate kept bringing them together and every time Hinata thought that she was getting somewhere with Sasuke, fate would break them apart again. It was absolutely bewildering the way Hinata found out about who gave her the necklace. It must have been destiny working its magic in getting her and Sasuke to connect in someway.

She continued to run through the grass and trees desperately trying to figure out where he was training. It took her the whole evening to find out his whereabouts, but she finally managed to track him down. It was difficult to ask anyone where Sasuke was without getting suspicious and judgmental looks. Hinata didn't want anyone to know that she was involved with Sasuke in any way.

Hinata suddenly stopped when she heard the person she was looking for.

She quickly hid behind a large tree, her hands softly placed against the rough bark as she peeked her head from behind the trunk. Her pale orbs absorbed his every move. She suddenly felt nervous and could feel the palms of her hands sweating. Maybe this wasn't the best time to talk to him?

Hinata watched as Sasuke sweated and panted heavily and he looked like he was concentrating awfully hard on the targets from the way his eyes narrowed in. He must've noticed that she was standing behind the tree because his head suddenly turned into her direction.

Hinata gasped and instantly concealed herself behind the tree once again, with her back leaning against the trunk. She tightly closed her eyes shut and breathed in and out. She could do this! She spent all that time looking for him and now that she found him, she was backing out? Hinata shook her head. She wanted answers and she was going to get them, right?

"I know you're there, so just come out," Sasuke called out, annoyed that his training was being disturbed.

Hinata breathed in and out once again. She could feel the butterflies flying around in her stomach and making her feel uneasy. It was now or never.

Hinata slowly moved further away from the tree and cleared her throat. "H-hi, it's, um, me."

Sasuke stared at the uninvited visitor as she meekly made her presence be known and waved with a nervous smile.

"Oh," he said plainly.

Hinata looked down at the ground as she walked closer. With every step she took, she could feel her stomach doing turns and flips.

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds before Hinata broke the tension between them.

"How a-are you doing?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Fine." Sasuke looked away from her and asked, "How about you?"

"Oh, I-I've been good, I g-guess," Hinata answered in a small voice.

Both of them once again stood in silence and Hinata looked around nervously. Neither of them were engaging in a conversation. Why was this so hard? Maybe it was because both of them were socially inept.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke suddenly asked as he looked a her with a blank expression.

Playing with her fingers and feeling nervous about being here, Hinata answered. "I needed to ask y-you something."

Hinata then grabbed the necklace around her neck and pulled it away from her body in order to show Sasuke.

"Why did you get me this?" Hinata questioned with new-found confidence, but the nervousness was still present in her voice.

Sasuke stared at the necklace indifferently and folded his arms.

"I didn't get you that," he responded without any hesitation.

Hinata didn't understand why he was shamelessly lying when she _knew_ that he did buy it for her. Why would he go through all that trouble and then deny that he did something thoughtful and caring for her? It didn't make sense.

Hinata inhaled a deep breath and she continued to draw circles into the ground with her foot. "You don't n-need to lie," she said slowly, "I know."

Sasuke scoffed. "What do you know?"

"The saleslady t-told me it was you who bought this for me," Hinata once again held up the necklace from her neck to show Sasuke. "She knew what you looked like and your name. She also said that this necklace was one of a kind. All of that can't be just a coincidence."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Saleslady?"

"Ye-yes. I was in the same jewelry store where you bought this and she spotted me wearing this."

"Damn," Sasuke cursed under his breath.

"Sorry?" Hinata asked innocently.

"Nothing," Sasuke said in a low tone as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Listen, I don't know what that lady told you, but I didn't buy that necklace."

Hinata felt her heart sink. "S-so," she choked on her words and tried to continue without becoming so emotional. "So, you didn't get this for me?"

Without batting an eyelash Sasuke answered. "No."

He was lying! Hinata wanted to yell, scream, stomp her foot and tell him that she knew that he was lying, but she wasn't like that. How could he lie to her when she just told him everything that she knew? He was lying through his teeth.

Hinata raised her arms towards the back of her neck and untied the necklace. She slowly removed it from her neckline and held the beautiful piece of jewelry in her hand.

She walked towards Sasuke and held her hand out. "Here."

Sasuke looked down at her hand. "What?"

"Take it. I-I don't want it," Hinata replied, feeling disappointed and slightly angry.

"What are you talking about?"

Hinata stood in front of Sasuke, with her head hung low and spoke so softly, so dejectedly, that Sasuke had to strain to hear. "I won't accept this until you admit that you bought it. It would be wrong for me to take it when you obviously didn't mean to give it to me."

Sasuke made no movement to show that he would take the necklace back and Hinata had no intention of keeping something that did not belong to her.

She quickly grabbed Sasuke's wrist and placed the necklace into his hand. She didn't know where she got the courage to do something like that, but inside her heart, she was proud that she was able to stand up to Sasuke. She would go home knowing that she didn't just run away and accept things the way they were.

As quickly as she handed the necklace back, Hinata turned around and started to walk away when something caught hold of her hand.

She could feel his cold hand wrap around her warm, small hand. This small contact made Hinata's stomach flutter a bit.

"Wait," he called out softly.

Hinata didn't turn around.

"I did get this for you," he finally admitted in a low voice and slowly let go of her hand.

Both of them stood in silence; both shocked at the confession.

Hinata remained perfectly still and bit the bottom of her lip nervously. Was he really admitting it to her? She slowly turned around so she could face him.

"You did?" She asked, her voice cracking a bit. "Why?"

For once Sasuke seemed like he was the nervous, uneasy one, though he concealed it well. "I wanted to make up for all the times I made you cry."

Hinata's eyes started to water a little. Was this real or just another dream? Was Sasuke actually telling her the truth for once? This whole scene seemed to have fallen out of a movie. Two lost lovers standing in an isolated area with the moon and stars shining brightly over them as they confess their love for one another. It was all just so surreal.

Hinata felt an over-whelming sense of happiness wash over her to know that Sasuke cared about her. He could've just let her walk away and they would never meet up again, but he didn't let her go; he held onto her.

She didn't know what made her do it; maybe it was the calm night sky, or the way the moon shined so brightly, or maybe it was the happiness she was feeling or perhaps it was Sasuke himself; but she couldn't stop herself, not tonight.

Without giving Sasuke any warning, she instantly fell into his arms. She buried her head into his chest and wrapped her hands around his body.

She felt Sasuke tense at the sudden, intimate contact between the two, but then relaxed and even wrapped his arms around the small girl.

"Thank you," Hinata whispered into his chest and her eyes began to moisten.

"You're crying again," Sasuke said in his usual indifferent tone, but Hinata knew he meant well. She couldn't help it if she cried when she was happy. It was just something that she did.

Hinata removed one of her arms around Sasuke's abdomen and wiped the tears away with her free hand.

"Sorry," she replied meekly.

"Crying doesn't suit you."

Hinata smiled softly and once again leaned into him. "I really missed you."

Sasuke remained silent. There were so many things that Hinata wanted to ask, but she didn't want to over-whelm him. Moreover, she didn't think she had the courage to ask all the questions that she had running around in her head. She would stick to simple conversations and leave the heavy stuff for later, when they were more comfortable with each other.

Hinata kept her head low and spoke shyly as if she was afraid of the answer she would receive. "Did you miss me?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and smirked playfully. "Not really."

Hinata raised her head and backed away from the dark-haired boy. "You didn't think about m-me at all?"

Sasuke once again stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Nope."

Hinata turned away from Sasuke, her back facing him and spoke with uneasiness. "Not even o-once?"

Sasuke walked closer to Hinata, while her back was still facing him and replied calmly, "there was this one time."

A small glimmer of hope lit inside of Hinata. "When?"

He leaned in close, pushed her hair away from her back and on to the side and wrapped the necklace around her neck. He then whispered softly into her ear, "every time I took a breath."

Hinata let go of the breath that she was holding and felt a bit dizzy because of their close proximity and because of what he had just said. She was truly in a dream if all of this was happening. Was this really the same Sasuke that she had been running into for last couple of months? The same Sasuke who said all those horrible things to her? The same Sasuke that everyone tells her to stay away from?

Was this truly what it seemed to be?

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**A/N**: Hey! Sorry I had to leave it there, but we all know what a lazy bum I am! The last line Sasuke says is soooo cheesy, but I LOVED it and I thought it was too cute to not add it into the chapter. That last little scene is from the mushy Indian movie _Devdas! _It's more beautifully said/shown in the movie then the way I wrote in my story, but I had to modify it so that it suited Sasuke and Hinata's characters better. I'm such a sucker for romance. I'm so proud of myself for updating so quickly, but don't get use to it! I'll try my best to update when I get the chance, sometimes its sooner and sometimes its later. Well, that's life for ya! 

Thanks for all the support! Bye! -waves-

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	14. Chapter XIV

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**_Chapter XIV_**

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Hinata readjusted her winter toque and pulled it further down until the material covered her frozen ears. She rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them and placed them in her pockets as she walked further into the dark forest. She was in such a hurry to leave the hospital that she forgot to take her mittens with her. 

She slowly walked down the familiar path that she had been walking along for weeks now. As she scurried along the trail, she contemplated on what she was doing and where her life was going. Was she doing the right thing? Would she be strong enough to pursue this? She was so unsure of her life right now. She was setting herself for a lot of heartache by keeping this a secret. Lying and sneaking around was becoming more difficult then she had imagined and Hinata felt terrible every time she had to lie to her friends and family.

But she had to ask herself, was it worth it?

Hinata wasn't sure… _yet_. She was taking a huge risk, one that she would have never seen herself taking, but here she was, in the middle of the night, coming out to see _him_. They both agreed that they would keep their "relationship," if one could call it that, a secret because they knew that Neji would not take the news well. Well, that was her reason; she wasn't so sure as to why Sasuke wanted to keep it a secret.

Hinata wasn't even sure of what she thought about them as a couple yet and she didn't want to tell anyone until she was absolutely confident with her feelings. She was dealing with a very unstable person. Ever since that night she decided to confront him, she had seen a different side of Sasuke; one that was softer, it made Hinata forget about all the times she shed tears because of him.

She gradually walked into the clearing, her eyes searching for a familiar figure, but saw nothing. She knew that this was his training area and he told her that he would be training here. Hinata walked a bit further and carefully looked around, but still saw nothing.

"You're late."

Hinata jumped at the unexpected sound and turned around to face the source of the voice.

"Oh, s-sorry. I had to call Neji and tell him that I was staying late at work," Hinata said as she lowered her head and played with the cuffs of her coat. She hated lying to her cousin every night.

Sasuke sensed the uneasiness in her voice and slightly lifted his hand to place it on her shoulder, but brought it back to his side again. Instead, he leaned against the nearest tree and shoved his hands into his pocket. "Did you tell him anything?"

Hinata shook her head and replied softly, "no, but I feel terrible about it."

"You know we can't tell anyone, especially your cousin."

The smaller girl shifted uncomfortably, "I know."

An awkward silence filled the atmosphere. Relationships required such hard work and communication was such a big factor in order to make them work. Talking and expressing feelings were not something that she was good at and she realized this every time she was with Sasuke. They were such an awkward couple.

Sasuke was the first one to speak up, "how was work today?"

Hinata curved her lips into a little smile. He was actually initiating a conversation with her. "It was okay. Work is, um, work."

The moon and stars glowed over the two and the wind shifted through the trees. Hinata walked over to a thick tree and dropped her bag. She was feeling a little tired because she had been working all day, so she decided to sit down for a bit. She slowly sat down and pulled her knees to her chest and huddled together as she tried to penetrate the coldness to reach her body. It wasn't too cold, but she wasn't wearing a very thick coat.

When Hinata felt more comfortable in her position she asked, "how was your day?"

Sasuke shrugged, "same as usual"

"Oh."

Sasuke suddenly walked closer to Hinata and closed the gap between them. He hesitated for a brief second before he decided to sit down beside her, close enough to smell her perfume, but far enough to not cross his limits by touching her.

Hinata felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she no longer felt cold anymore. He was sitting so close to her, it was getting her heart pumping. She liked the feeling she got every time she was with him. It was new and refreshing and it made her feel good. She felt him shift beside her until he got into a comfortable position. They were both sitting against rough bark on a hard, dirt ground, but Hinata didn't mind as long she was with him.

Hinata folded her hands and placed them on top of her knees. "Did your training go well?"

Sasuke nodded.

She needed to break the ice between them. She kept telling herself to start an interesting conversation…

"Um, I read this really intriguing poem the other day," Hinata said softly with her head bowed down, staring at her hands. "Porphyria's Lover by-"

"By Robert Browning."

"Yes," Hinata's face lit up, "You've heard of it?"

"The one where he kills her because he wants the moment to last," Sasuke said in a monotone voice and watched as the girl beside him nodded.

"Yes. Its really very sad than sweet."

Sasuke shrugged. "He had his reasons."

Hinata's brows scrunched in curiosity, "what do you mean?"

Sasuke once again turned his head and looked at her. "He killed her because he loved her, right?"

"Yes, but you don't kill the ones that you love."

"But if he didn't kill her then she would end up with someone else."

Hinata shook her head. "That doesn't j-justify what he did."

"He did it for love."

"S-so, you would kill someone for love?"

Sasuke paused. "It depends."

"On what?"

"On what the circumstances are."

Hinata just couldn't wrap her head around Sasuke's logic. Murder is murder, isn't it? "That still doesn't excuse murder."

"It wasn't murder, she loved him too and was willing to sacrifice herself," Sasuke said calmly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's what he says because the poem is written though his eyes. It doesn't mention how the girl feels about it. I don't think that she had a choice," Hinata said in a soft voice. They were actually engaging in an intellectual conversation. She was so happy.

When it seemed like Sasuke wasn't going to say anything else, she continued, "And why didn't he sacrifice himself?"

Sasuke looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Because he's the man."

Hinata was no feminist but she knew that there were so many things wrong with that sentence. "So?"

Sasuke stretched his legs forward and leaned in closer to Hinata. "So, she was the one who was too weak to keep her commitment to him."

Hinata refused to look at him. She was feeling nervous because of their close proximity and she didn't want to look at him because she didn't want to lose her point. If she looked directly at him, she would choke on her words.

"M-maybe he wasn't able to commit, so he put the blame on the woman. He is trying to rationalize his actions because he knows that it was wrong."

"He just wanted to freeze the moment where they were together and in love," Sasuke said calmly and looked up at the sky.

Hinata giggled as light blush played along her cheeks, but couldn't be seen because of the night sky. "I never knew you were such a romantic."

Sasuke looked at the girl sitting beside him for a brief second before he turned away from her and looked toward the opposite direction. "I'm not," he mumbled.

"So, um, do you read a lot?" The dark-haired girl asked as she searched for something in the sky.

"When I have time," Sasuke replied shortly.

Hinata nodded. "Me too. I really like reading, it takes you to whole other world. I haven't been able to read a lot lately because of work and school."

Once again they were engulfed by silence, but this time it was good kind of silence. They didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward and they were content in just being with each other. Hinata played with the tips of her hair and rolled them around on her finger tips.

Sasuke watched her go through the motions. What was wrong with him? The more time he was spending with her, the more he found himself comfortable around her and the more he wanted to be around her. He had never felt so relaxed around someone before. She wasn't like other girls; she didn't chatter his ear off, or bitch about things that he could care less about. She was shy, quiet and timid which made her… cute, though admitting it out loud was something that he would never do.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

Hinata plucked the tiny grass from the ground as she continued talking. "If I told you something, would you get mad?"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Depends on what you tell me."

"Well, you know the annual Christmas Ball, well, um.. Neji has this idea that I've been spending too much time by myself and that Ishouldseesomeonenewandhesetmeupwithadate."

"What?" Sasuke said, mildly surprised that Hinata could even talk that fast.

"Neji found someone for me and he wants me to see him," Hinata said more slowly, awaiting his reaction.

Sasuke was never the one to let his emotions show on his face so he remained calm, even though it was infuriating him on the inside to know that Hinata would be going out with some other guy. He wasn't the jealous type and he had nothing to worry about. All he had to do was track this guy down and kill him. Problem solved.

"So?"

"So, it doesn't bother you?" She asked, surprised that he didn't give her the cold shoulder or an angry outburst.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, but Hinata never noticed. "No."

"I-I tried to say no, but he was so persistent and I couldn't tell him about us," Hinata quickly added and whispered, "nothing will h-happen, I promise."

Hinata really wanted him to understand. She told her cousin many times that she didn't want to do this, but he seemed so excited to find someone new for her that she couldn't break his heart. She felt so bad for lying to him about Sasuke in the first place and if she kept refusing him, he would become suspicious.

"It's okay."

Hinata turned to look at Sasuke. Did he say it was okay? Was he actually being understanding? She had to be dreaming! Was this whole thing really turning into a relationship? Was he going to trust her? All of these questions were running through her head. She was happy that he was taking this information so well. She felt that maybe she should hug him or present some type of gesture, but she thought that it was too soon to do something like that. It would be weird and Hinata was too shy to make the first move.

So, she simply smiled to show her appreciation. "Thank you for being so understanding."

Sasuke didn't smile back, but Hinata didn't mind; Sasuke was just being Sasuke.

Sasuke stood up slowly, "come on, I'll walk you home," he said smoothly and extended his hand out to her.

Hinata stared at his hand gesture before she placed her hand lightly into his. His bigger, heated hand engulfed her lighter cold hand as he help her up from the ground. She waited for him to let go of her hand, the way he had done many times before, but he didn't this time.

For once, he held onto her hand.

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**A/N: **Sorry for the late update and the grammar and stuff might be off a little because I didn't get it edited. Bad me! This chapter was kinda slow and uneventful. I want their relationship to blossom into something more then making out and having sexual urges. I want them to connect in an intellectual way and actually talk to one another about issues. I dunno, is that boring? I also know that new relationships are totally awkward and I think I've displayed that in this chapter. I still want them to go through their first kiss and spend more time with each other before I get to the drama! 

This chapter is dedicated to **Unlock! **She/he sent me a review asking for an update because she/he is such a dedicated fan to this story. I promised an update on Sunday and I know I'm a little late, but I still updated! The next update probably won't be until after Dec 20 because that is when I finish my exams.

Good luck to everyone who has exams and mid-terms going on and happy holidays!

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


	15. Chapter XV

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**_Chapter XV_**

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Hinata played with a fallen leaf in her hands as she patiently sat against the tree waiting for Sasuke to finish his training. She had arrived a little early, feeling excited to see him; to be alone with him again. Both of them had been too busy during the week to meet up with each other, but tonight, they would be only spending time with each other. 

When Sasuke finished, he made his way over to Hinata and like many times before, he sat down beside her and like always, her face turned red. She handed him a water bottle and he accepted it without a word.

Sasuke quickly gulped down the liquid and wiped his face with his sleeve once he finished. He looked over to the girl sitting beside him and casually asked, "have you seen him yet?"

Hinata shook her head to the side, "no, I'm suppose to meet him at the Christmas Ball." She pushed her hair behind her and asked, "Are you going to come?"

Sasuke looked at her and answered without any hesitation, "no."

"Oh."

She was hoping that he would come, but then again, if she was going out with someone else, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for him to come, but still, she wouldn't mind having him there.

She folded her fingers and placed them on top of her knees and asked in a quiet voice, "why not?"

Sasuke stared up at the sky before he replied, "I'll tell you a secret," he leaned in close and Hinata could feel his hot breath brush against her ear, "I can't dance."

Hinata's eyes widened at his confession. She couldn't believe that the all-knowing Uchiha didn't know how to dance! It was unbelievably funny and she couldn't help but giggle a little. Sasuke moved away from her and she could sense that she upset him with her carelessness. It was a little funny, wasn't it?

"I'm sorry," she quickly said as she put her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing anymore. "You really can't dance?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Never found time to learn."

"Well, we were forced to learn," Hinata said calmly while looking out in the darkness. "Father made us attend numerous parties and as proper young ladies, we had to learn how to dance the waltz and ballroom."

Sasuke didn't say anything and Hinata decided to propose something that she would have never done before. "I could teach you how to dance."

She looked away from him, suddenly feeling shy and conscious.

"You want to teach me?" he asked as he looked at her with no emotion.

Hinata nodded her head, "if you want to learn?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "how is learning how to dance going to help me in the real world?"

"Nothing," Hinata said as she shrugged her shoulders. "It's just fun." When he didn't say anything, she smiled and continued, "you do know what fun is, right?"

Sasuke suppressed a growl before answering, "I know what fun is."

Hinata mumbled quietly to herself, "sure doesn't look like it," but unfortunately for her, Sasuke had very good hearing.

"What did you say?"

Hinata shook her head, "nothing."

Sasuke abruptly stood up on his feet and moved away from the sitting girl. She wondered is she offended him, it was defiantly not her intention to hurt him, but she found it a little funny for the over-confident Uchiha to admit that he didn't know how to dance. Hinata soon after got up from her position ready to run after Sasuke if he walked away from her, but he stood there. Hinata wasn't sure of what he was doing or going to do.

"Well, come on," he said impatiently, "are you going to teach me to dance or not?"

Hinata looked at Sasuke with a confused daze. "You want to learn?"

He didn't answer her and stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Taking this as a "yes" Hinata quickly made her way to his side. Oh boy, this was going to be hard, especially when they would be so close and their bodies would be touching; not to mention Sasuke's attitude. _Try not to think of it_, Hinata kept repeating in her head. She had danced with many people before and as the teacher she needed to show maturity and control.

"O-okay. Ah, we'll start off with ballroom," she said as she walked over to him and raised her right arm. "Since, you're the m-man and taller, you have lead." Hinata estimated exactly where she would need to stand to make it more comfortable for herself and Sasuke. She stood parallel from him, one to two feet apart from him.

"Umm, we're never suppose to stand toe-to-toe, because well, we would step on each other," she smiled and scratched her head. "Okay, so, I'm half way to your left and my foot will be between your feet."

Both of them positioned each other properly, but it was the next step that Hinata was afraid of. She would need to actually physically touch him. She took in a deep breath and reassured herself that she could do this.

"So, your right arm should be placed on my shoulder blade," she said in a soft voice and Sasuke lifted his right arm and placed it on Hinata's shoulder, slightly touching her back.

"Like this?" he asked calmly, obvious that he wasn't as affected by the contact as her. She slowly lowered his hand slightly downward to the right position.

"Your fingers should be together and your hand cupped, so that you can lead properly."

Sasuke did as Hinata told him to and tightened his fingers and cupped his hand. Using her other free hand, Hinata slightly propped up Sasuke's elbow.

"You have to keep this up and it has to point to the side. The structure is very important in ballroom," Hinata said in a smooth voice, despite how nervous she was feeling on the inside. How many times had she been scolded for not holding up her structure?

Sasuke enjoyed seeing Hinata take control of the situation. She was giving him orders and commands and she seemed more confident. It was a different side to her usual shyness.

Hinata proceed and took her left arm and gently placed is Sasuke's upper arm with her fingers draped over his shoulder. She blushed as she lifted her right hand and took hold of Sasuke's left hand, engulfing her hand into his.

She blushed slightly but remained calm and still continued to focus on the task at hand. "We raise these hands to my eye level because I'm shorter," Hinata said referring to her right hand and Sasuke's left hand.

Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"Since you're the one leading you have to put pressure through your hand on my back to let me know where you want to move," she watched as Sasuke gave her the raised eyebrow look, "don't worry, the more you practice the better you'll get at guiding."

Sasuke snorted, "you don't need to worry about me not being able to lead. Just watch my skills."

Hinata laughed lightly, "okay, now that we have position, umm, move two steps towards me and I'll show you how my feet move."

Sasuke did as he was told and kept his head down to look at her feet, as did Hinata. He simply moved two steps forward, making no effort to put any rhythm or beat into his steps and as his feet moved forward, her feet angelically moved backwards. She looked like she was dancing but it didn't feel like he was dancing because he was simply walking.

Sasuke decided to voice his opinion. "This doesn't feel like dancing."

"Because we aren't really dancing," she said with her head still downwards, "these are the most basic steps. Okay, so now we'll move in four steps and you have to lead me."

Sasuke moved four steps forward in a straight line, once again with no rhythm or beat. He was just simply, well err, walking.

"Ah, you don't have to walk straight, you can move any way you like."

"I can't dance with no music," Sasuke said as he moved in steps of four but still didn't feel like he was dancing.

"Ow, ow," Hinata squeaked when she felt a very heavy weight fall upon her foot.

"What?"

What did he mean by what? He just stepped on her foot and he didn't even realize it!

Hinata shook her head, "nothing."

"We look like idiots dancing in the forest with no music."

"Well, at least we look like idiots together," Hinata said as she gave him a small smile. "Imagine the music in your head," she said softly as she continued to look down at their feet. Sasuke was moving his feet properly but he was putting absolutely no feeling into his movements.

A fumble here, a shuffle there and Hinata had to stop him. It just wasn't working like this.

"Okay, how about I lead?" Hinata said as she let go of Sasuke and positioned her arms and hands like Sasuke had done before. "Umm, and close your eyes."

Sasuke simply stared at her before replying, "why?"

"You'll understand in a moment, please?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes but still complied with the smaller girl's request. Once he closed his eyes he could feel Hinata tugging at him, suggesting him to move along with her.

"Picture that we are on the dance floor. Our feet are gliding over the smooth surface with grace and elegance. There is a orchestra in the corner playing music with the piano, flutes and violin."

"This is stupid."

"Shh… Where's your imagination?" Hinata opened one of her eyes to peek at Sasuke and make sure that he was keeping his eyes shut; surprisingly he did have his eyes closed. "Now, keep moving with me… 1... 2... 3... 4.."

"This is not fun."

Hinata furrowed her brows, "stop complaining," she whispered. "1...2...3...4... Move each step with my count."

Sasuke tightened his grip around Hinata's hand and she gave him a tight squeeze back to reassure him. Hinata continued to count steps and they moved through the darkness together. They both moved with each others steps.

They continued moving in steps of four for a few moments with their eyes closed and each of them trying to imagine the music and atmosphere in their heads.

"Hey," Hinata whispered, "you're doing it. You're dancing."

Sasuke opened his eyes. "This is dancing?"

Hinata scrunched her nose, "well, there is always room for improvement, but you have the basic steps down."

They continued to count the steps and move around in open clearing for a few more minutes before Hinata spoke, "you want me to twirl you?"

Sasuke coughed, "what?" He watched as Hinata giggled at her own suggestion. "I don't twirl," he said firmly.

"I think that you would be great at twirling."

Sasuke growled, "No."

"Okay then, how about you twirl me then?"

Sasuke raised both their hands up above their heads and Hinata swiftly twirled underneath. "See? Its really very easy," she said after she got back into position.

Sasuke remained stoic and spoke, "I stop when there is twirling involved." Continuing to dance around the clearing Sasuke suddenly moved his hand so that it would rest in the middle of her back and swiftly dipped her down. Her back lightly rested on his knee and his face remained a few inches away from hers.

"Eeek." Hinata shrieked out from his sudden actions and her hand quickly grabbed onto his shirt. Her hair slinked backwards and her breathing pattern increased from the quick actions.

He dipped his head down and whispered in her ear, "you didn't see that one coming."

Just as quickly as he had dipped her, he pulled her up once again and continued to dance like they were before with a smug smirk plastered on his face.

Hinata was still trying to get over what had just happened and shook her head to clear her thoughts. Sasuke always managed to surprise her when she was least expecting it. Feeling like maybe she should grant him the same experience, she squeezed hers shut and hoped that she wasn't making a fool of herself.

She lifted herself on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Sasuke felt the small, soft peck on his cheek and asked, "what was that for?"

Hinata blushed as she looked down at her feet, "I don't know."

"Well, if you're going to kiss me, might as well do it properly." Sasuke got a hold of her chin and made her look up to him. He brought his face closer to hers and asked, "can I?"

He was asking her? He was asking if he could kiss her? That was that nicest thing she had ever heard him say.

Hinata was too dumbstruck to say anything so she simply nodded her head.

Slowly he brought his head down as he lips hovered over hers. She unnoticeably licked the outside of her lips with her tongue, making them look more irresistible to Sasuke. He wanted their first kiss to be gentle and easy. Hinata closed her eyes, too nervous to keep her eyes open.

He softly pressed his lips against hers. The kiss wasn't too long, or too short; it wasn't horrible, or magical; it was just their first kiss.

They both departed shortly and Hinata finally opened her eyes. She smiled shyly and Sasuke once again grabbed onto her hand and continued dancing. It took her a few moments before she could get into the movement of her steps.

He pressed his forehead onto hers and closed his eyes. Neither of them spoke because neither of them had to. Everything was right the way it was.

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**A/N:** Hey! I managed to get an early update out before I start my exams. I hope this chapter wasn't too slow and boring. Just wanted to let you guys to know that I have a new SasuHina story out, but it's MUCH different then this one. Its more darker and angsty and just... different. I wanted to write somthing new. Its rated M, so all kids under fourteen should stay away, but who am I stop you, nah? Anyways, thanks for all the support and reviews! Bye!

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**_Please Review_**

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TBC 


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